A New Life
by EmeraldRain25
Summary: After the death of his parents Ryoma is sent to live with his cousin Dallas. How will he handle the never ending battle between Greasers and Soc's?
1. A New Student

**A New Life**

**Okay I just couldn't drop this idea. I had the chapter planned out perfectly in my head and I feel a bit proud of myself. I haven't seen any PoT crossovers and probably for good reasons. Also Johnny and Dallas are alive.**

**Oh and if you're wondering why Echizen Ryoma is in The Outsiders timeline, just pretend it's the same era. Kay? Cause I have no clue.**

**Summary: After the death of his parents Ryoma is sent to live with his cousin Dallas. How will he handle the never ending battle between Greasers and Soc's?**

**Warning: Language.**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN PRINCE OF TENNIS OR THE OUTSIDERS.**

**Prologue**

_**A New Student**_

* * *

***Ponyboy POV***

My eyes widened in horror as I glanced down at my alarm clock_. Sh** I'm going to be late!_ _Darry is going to kill me!_ Without really paying attention to what I was doing I threw on the closest things I could find. That consisted of a plain white T-shirt and a pair of old, faded blue jeans.

I slung my back pack over my shoulder and rushed out the door. Sprinting down the sidewalk at break neck speed I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings. Rounding a corner I felt a harsh impact as I collided with something. Not bothering to even look at who I had collided with, I continued to sprint as if my life depended on it.

I let out a relieved sigh as I caught sight of the school. Slowing down my pace I took a look at the silver watch on my arm. It was a real tuff looking watch. Two -Bit had nicked it a couple of weeks ago. After realising he had no need for it, he spent a few minutes debating what to do with it before chucking it –not so lightly- at my head. He had figured I needed it more than he ever would.

Taking a moment to catch my breath I took a look at my surroundings. It was the last day of the first week of school after Summer Break and all around me groups of people gathered together as they all slowly made their way towards the school. The crowds consisted mostly of Soc's who liked to hang out in front of the school before classes started.

Squeezing my way through the crowd and trying to remain unnoticed, I slipped in to the school. Once I reached my locker I quickly checked my schedule, before rushing off to first period. _Math._

As I entered the classroom I saw the teacher, Ms. Hay, shoot a glare my way. I could tell she had never really liked me. She didn't treat me no different than any other student, but she still just did not like me. Most of the time she just ignored me all together. I didn't mind though, it was better that way.

Other students soon began filing into the classroom. Of course no one sat in the empty seat beside me, no one ever did. I didn't really care that much anyway. It made it much easier to concentrate. Once the class was settled down Ms. Hay turned to look at us.

My eyes widened in confusion, usually she just let us go straight to work, but I could tell she was about to make some big announcement.

"Settle down, settle down. Today we will be welcoming a new transfer student- " Whispers filled the classroom. "- he is 3 years younger than you and has skipped a couple of grades. Even though he may be younger than the rest of you, I expect for you to be respectful."

I fidgeted in my seat as she sent a pointed glare my way. Why did she look at me when she said that? Oh yeah, she hates me. I laughed inwardly at my own joke. I was the only greaser in my entire class. Not that it was unusual or anything. I was right about one thing though. Ms. Hay had made a big announcement. It was extremely rare for a kid to skip two grades, especially at this age. A knock on the door interrupted Ms. Hay before she could start one of her lectures.

Heads turned to stare as she made her way towards the door. Stepping out of the room for no less than 30 seconds, she returned seconds later, dragging with her a small boy. Gasps were heard as every one got a good look at the kid. I felt my own jaw drop open in awe.

Standing in front of me was a real_ tuff_ looking kid. He was small and had long emerald-green hair that stopped right above his shoulders. He had bright golden eyes that held a certain look in them… _defiance_? He wore a casual pair of grey sweat pants and a baggy black shirt. All in all, he was real good-looking.

"Well don't just stand there introduce yourself." Ms. Hay prompted. I felt my eyes follow him as he stepped to the front of the class. He had a very confident aura about him. Giggles could be heard from the girls and I knew I wasn't the only guy staring at the kid.

"I recently moved here from Japan. I lived in America when I was younger with my mother and father. I only arrived yesterday and I hope you will treat me kindly." His voice was practically dripping with arrogance.

"Your name son."

For some reason I felt myself holding my breath. He lifted his head high and my jaw dropped as he muttered two words. Well he said more, but I wasn't listening .

"Ryoma Winston, pleasure to meet you."

* * *

**A/N**

**So how did you think I did? I don't expect many reviews for this story, but yeah …please comment if you do read.**

**I appreciate criticism and I always enjoy listening to any ideas you may have. **

**Please Read and Review! :P**


	2. Soc VS Greaser

**Yay I got the next chapter out! I would really like to give a big thanks to all my reviews. even though there was only five of you, there was alot more reviews than I expected. It also gave me motivation to get the next chapter out faster.**

**So anyway, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN PRINCE OF TENNIS OR THE OUTSIDERS.**

**Chapter 2**

_**Soc VS Greaser**_

* * *

**Last Time**

_"Your name son," Mrs. Hay pressed. _

_For some reason I felt myself holding my breath. He lifted his head high and my draw dropped as he muttered two words. Well he said more, but I wasn't listening._

_"Ryoma Winston, pleasure to meet you."_

**Currently**

Instantly gasps and whispers filled the classroom. Now there's one thing you have to understand, everyone knows Dallas Winston. Also, when I say everyone, I mean absolutely _everyone. _I could even see our teacher giving the new student shocked glances.

As far as I knew Dally was an only child. He never mentioned any siblings; he had never even mentioned his parents. As I continued to think about it I came to the conclusion that maybe this new kid and Dallas, weren't related and maybe it was just coincidence they shared the same last even as I thought about it, I knew it wasn't just a coincidence. They both shared that same hardened look in their eyes. A look I haven't seen on anyone else.

"Alright class settle down, settle down!" Ms. Hay's shrill voice rang around the classroom. She seemed to have snapped out of her trance and was now waiting for everyone to quiet down. I could still see almost every Soc in the room staring at the kid with looks if disgust, curiosity, interest and in some of the girl's cases, adoration.

"Now does anyone have any questions for Mr. Winston?" She asked once the class was settled down and everyone was quiet enough so that her voice could be heard.

"Are you related to Dallas Winston?" One girl blurted out. Everyone leaned forward, eagerly awaiting his answer. It was the one question that was on everyone's minds.

"Yes," Ryoma replied, smirking all the while. Whispers started up again and I couldn't help but notice how he seemed to be enjoying all of this. Everyone quieted down quickly after Ms. Hay shot us another glare.

"What's your favourite thing to do?" This time a boy with brown hair asked.

"Play tennis." It was only then that Ponyboy noticed the medium sized tennis bag hanging ofr Ryoma's shoulder. Ponyboy had never actually seen anyone play tennis before. The only reason he had a general understanding of the game was because one night there had been nothing on T.V to watch other than sports and soap operas. The gang had ended up watching tennis after Johnny had expressed his like for the sport.

"Do you have any pets?" This time a girl with bright red hair asked.

"Yes, I have a cat." A cat? For some reason I didn't take him as the type to be interested in pets, especially cats.

"Would you go out with me?" A girl asked.

"Don't go out with her, go out with me!" Another countered.

"Why would he wanna go out with you?" The girl snapped back.

I felt myself chuckling softly. If only Steve and Two-Bit were here to see this. The kid hadn't even been in the classroom for five minutes and he was already getting love confessions. Oh boy would Two-Bit ever get jealous.

Not to mention the fact that he had just pronounced himself a greaser and related to Dallas Winston, who was known for being quite the hood, with a bad reputation. Yet the girls still didn't seem to care. The guys however were another story. They looked livid that a boy, a greaser no better, had shown up out of nowhere and was now stealing the hearts of their girls. I had to applaud the kid for not flinching under the murderous stares they were emitting.

"Alright class! Enough questions for now," Ms. Hay turned to look around the classroom before her eyes landed on the empty seat beside me, before trailing back to the new kid. "You may sit over there beside Mr. Curtis. We are currently working on pages 233-235 in the textbook. Ponyboy I expect you to show him around school until he gets the gist of things. I also expect no trouble on your part."

I nodded vigilantly at Mrs. Hay, before going back to my work. I looked sideways at the new kid only to find him looking right back at me in thought, before his eyes lit up in realization. "You're the guy that ran into me on m way to school!" He exclaimed. My eyes widened as I recounted slamming into something in my haste to get to school.

"Sorry 'bout that," I murmered sheepishly.

"Mr. Curtis and Mr. Winston I expect you are both getting your work done?" Ms. Hay's voice caued me to jump slightly and hastily look back down at my paper. I got halfway through the page before daring to cast a quick glance towards the new kid and was surprised to see he was sleeping. I looked at Ms. Hay to see if she had noticed; she had, but for some reason she only sat there staring at the kid with a look akin to…pity?

As the morning went on my confusion only grew. The kid continued to sleep through every class and not a single teacher decided to comment about it. It was as if he had some special V.I.P card that stopped teachers from disturbing him.

I knew that by lunch the news of new transfer student, Ryoma Winston, had spread across the entire school. Everyone knew that a relative of the hood Dallas Winston had entered the high school. Sometimes it surprised me how fast gossip spread.

When the bell for lunch sounded, I stood up and gently began to shake Ryoma awake. I could feel everyone's eyes on us, or more specifically Ryoma, as he yawned, stretching casually. He then looked around and when his eyes caught sight of the clock, a brief look of shock passed across his face before disappearing as quickly as it had come.

"Do you have any tennis courts?" Ryoma asked, his golden eyes looking at me expectantly.

For some reason I felt compelled to answer him. I would have anyway, but something in his gaze just made me freeze up. After finally breaking free of my sudden daze, I nodded. "Around back, beside the track."

Ryoma left before I had time to say anything. I rushed into the hallway after him, but he had already disappeared into the crowd of hungry students, anxious for lunch. I sighed and decided to go and find Johnny, Steve and Two-Bit.

* * *

**Ryoma's POV**

I hadn't realised I had dozed off until I was shaken awake by Pony-whatever his name was. I looked up at the clock and felt relief wash over me when I saw it was lunch time. I could finally let out some stress in a game of tennis.

"Do you have any tennis courts?" I asked and hoped they did. To be honest I didn't think I could last an entire year here if I couldn't play tennis. I looked up at Ponyhorse; I still couldn't remember his name.

"Around back, by the track," Before he had time to stop me I was already heading down the hall. I could feel stares and whispers follow me all the way to the track. Once the tennis courts caught my eye I felt oddly relieved.

I had avoided tennis since my parents had died. For some reason every time I looked at a racket now, I was reminded of all the times I spent playing tennis with my Baka Oyaji on the courts behind the temple. A week after their death I remember social services telling me I was going to live with my cousin Dallas Winston, whom I hadn't seen since I was 8 or 9 years old.

I could also remember the regular's faces when I told them the news. It hadn't even been 2 weeks since we won the nationals and we were already being separated. Momo-Senpai and Eiji-Sempai had broken down into tears. Oishi, Taka and Kaidoh hadn't cried, but I could tell they were just as devastated. Fuji had wished me a silent good-bye, his usually mask still on his face and Tezuka had told me not to let my guard down.

Now not even a week later, here I was, at school in a town I had never heard of before. I began thinking of what the regulars were doing right now. My thoughts were cut short as I reached the tennis courts. I was met with a group of 8 boys paired off into teams of two and playing doubles against each other on the courts.

'_Great, just what I need,'_ I thought irritably as one of the Soc's, as Dallas liked to call them, spotted me. I saw a smirk filter across his face as he walked away from his game and towards me.

I stood there until he was a few feet in front of me.

"If it isn't that greaser kid we've been hearing so much about all day long," The kid was tall, I couldn't help but notice how he was also stronger than the rest of the guys that were now crowded around and behind him.

"Yeah, so what?" I snapped back, I was not in the mood to deal with some stuck up kid with a superiority problem.

"This here is our tennis courts, you need to get our permission to use them," He stated, looking all high and mighty.

"Hmm, so can I use the courts?" I asked, deciding it would be easier to go along with this guy, instead of fighting for once.

"Yeah if you get down on your hands and knees and beg for it," He stated, laughing. The rest of his goonies also laughed. They were all wearing smirks.

"That is, unless you don't want to use the courts."

* * *

**Ponyboy's POV**

I found Steve, Two-Bit and Johnny all standing around Two-Bit's locker.

"Hey Pony! What's up?" Johnny asked.

"The sky," Two-Bit answered before I could. We all cast him an 'I don't believe you just said that' kind of look.

"No offense Two-Bit, but that joke is really old," I sighed when he broke down into laughter. There was just no getting through to Two-Bit, that much was guaranteed.

"That's what makes it so original!" I doubted Two-Bit even knew what that meant. "Hey have any of you heard the rumours about that new kid?"

We all nodded.

"I didn't know Dallas had any relatives," Steve muttered.

"He's in my class," I explained and instantly felt them giving me curious looks.

"What's he like?" Johnny asked, of course he was the most curious.

"Well…he's real tuff looking that's for sure. He doesn't look like a greaser at all, more like a Soc. He act's real confident and is really fit. He says he likes tennis," I explained, trying to put him into words. It was hard, because I've never met a kid like him before.

"Wow," Johnny whispered and I nodded in understanding.

"That's not the weirdest part though. He slept through ALL of his classes and not once did the teachers give him trouble. Instead it seemed like they were pitying him." I still didn't understand it myself.

"Well I would pity him too, having a relative like Dally," Steve muttered and the rest of us cracked up at that. We were interrupted by a girl who was running hurriedly down the hall, a look of panic set across her face.

"Hey Milly! What's wrong?" Two-Bit stopped her. It was then that I recognized her as one of Two-Bit's Ex's. Milly had been an ok girl from the middle class. She had got fed up with Two-Bit's drinking habits and dumped him.

She looked at him for a moment before deciding she might as well tell him. "The new kid and the captain from the tennis team are going at it behind the courts."

With that said, she continued on her way to the courts. We all stood there for a second until her words sunk in. I suddenly had a bad feeling, and expecting there to be a full blown fight, I ran towards the courts at full speed. I could hear Two-Bit, Steve and Johnny following behind me.

When we arrived Ryoma stood outside the courts, facing the captain of the tennis team. Bystanders stood all around them, waiting for someone to make the first move. People were hollering and making catcalls, anticipating a fight.

"Hmm, so can I use the courts?" Ryoma snapped. I could see him looking annoyed.

"Yeah if you get down on your hands and knees and beg for it," The Soc said, laughing at Ryoma's expression. I could see Steve's eyes narrowed, glaring at the Soc. "That is, unless you don't want to use the courts."

"Why that dirty son of…" Two-Bit then went on to call the Soc every curse word he could think of at the moment.

"Or would you rather admit that Soc's are better than Greasers?" He went on. His comment caused cheers to arise from the Soc's and boo's from the Greasers. I could tell he was trying to push Ryoma over the edge. It looked like his plan was working. I was surprised when I saw a smirk travel across Ryoma's face.

"Or we could settle this through tennis," Ryoma challenged, his voice full of confidence and smirk on his face. The Soc looked confused until Ryoma went on. "We play a one-set match. If I win you let me use the courts and I get the captain's position."

The Soc looked worried before a look of arrogance crossed his face. He seemed awfully sure he could beat Ryoma. "Fine, but if I win you get to be my little bus boy for the next month and you have to get down on your knees and tell me how Soc's are so much better than Greasers."

I heard Johnny gasp beside me and my own eyes widened.

"He wouldn't accept a deal like that, would he?" Johnny wondered aloud. Apparently he would though, because he stepped forward, gripping the Soc's hand in a formal handshake.

"Deal, we'll meet here after school." Ryoma smirked and the Soc nodded. It was hard to tell who was more confident in their abilities.

"Kid, you just signed your death threat," The Soc exclaimed.

Yep, the Soc was defiantly more confident.

* * *

**A/N**

**So anyway, What did you think? I can't tell if my first person writing has gotten better or worse D:**

**Please Review!**


	3. A Fight With Tennis

**PLEASE READ: I replaced this chapter with a slightly different version, not much has changed other than the fact that I changed most of it to firs person POV and added a little part on Johnny's point of view. :)**

**First off I would like to thank all my reviewers! You guys give me the motivation to continue this story.**

**This chapter is mainly Ryoma's tennis match with the Soc. Next chapter Ryoma will meet the gang. **

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN PRINCE OF TENNIS OR THE OUTSIDERS.**

**Chapter 3**

_**A Fight with Tennis**_

* * *

***Ponyboy POV***

Afternoon classes passed by in a blur. Before I knew it the bell had rang and I was following Ryoma to the courts.

"Are you sure about this?" I asked, trying to get Ryoma to reconsider the stupid bet.

"There are some people who need to degrade others to feel high and mighty," Was all Ryoma said as we continued on our way to the back of the school.

As we rounded the corner to the back, I halted in surprise. The bleachers surrounding the tennis courts were absolutely crowded with people. One half of the bleachers were filled with Soc's, all of which were cheering and shouting in anticipation. The other half was filled with Greasers who were being even rowdier than the Soc's. I hadn't thought that many people would show up, but then again, news travels fast 'round here.

In the middle of a court was the Soc. I remembered him from one of the senior classes; I think his name was Josh or something close to that. He has dark brown hair and brown eyes to match. Right now he's leaning against the net with a confident smirk on his face. I turn to look at Ryoma to see he's also smirking.

Before I could say anything to stop him Ryoma strode confidently down to the courts. He had changed into a pair of dark black shorts and a white t-shirt. He clutched his red tennis racket in his hand. As I watched his retreating back I couldn't help but think he looked like a soldier heading off to war.

* * *

***Ryoma POV***

I didn't know how to feel as I strode down to the courts. I felt confident I would win, but on the other hand I hadn't played in a match since the Nationals and was out of shape. My hand loosely clutched my racket. I could hear the cheers and shouts following me as I made my way down to the courts.

As I stepped onto the court all sounds instantly died in my ears. All my focus was on the Soc standing on the other side of the net. From what I could tell, he looked fit. He was tall, but that wasn't unusual consider he was 17. He had dark brown hair and eyes. He also looked very strong for a high schooler.

"Rough or smooth?" I asked, deciding to get to the point.

"What took you so long? I thought you had chickened out!" I glared as he ignored me.

"Rough or smooth?" I repeated, barely managing to keep my voice calm. I didn't like arrogant pricks, I had dealt with enough of them to last me a life time.

"What's the rush? Did your mommy get mad at her poor baby for getting into a fight? Is that why you're rushing? So you can go back home to see your mother who could probably care less about you?" I saw the Soc's eyes were full of enjoyment as he continued to ignore me. With every second that went by I felt a greater urge to crush him.

"Rough or smooth?" I growled out. My eyes narrowed to slits and I shook with rage. My hand gripped my racket firmly, knuckles almost turning white and I glared. If looks could kill the Soc would already be dead.

I watched as he jumped in surprise at how livid I looked.

"Ro…Rough," He stuttered out, voice shaking, eyes wide.

I spun the racket and waited. It landed on Rough. "Your serve."

"This is a one set match. Josh Freemen vs. Ryoma Winston," The referee announced.

I relaxed and got into a receiving position at the baseline. My eyes watched the senior. Josh bent low, knees almost touching the ground. The unusual stance only caused my curiosity to grow. I watched as Josh tossed up the ball, before suddenly springing up, jumping unreasonably high and bringing his racket down with a swift swing of his arm.

The ball came right into my waiting racket, which was held in my right hand. I had decided my opponent wasn't worth playing with my left. The unusual serve could be considered fast, but I was used to top notch serves, making it easy to return.

I sent the ball back to the other side of the court, right to the opposite corner from where Josh had sent it. The Soc ran quickly, trying to return it, but was ultimately to slow.

"My…my rocket serve," Josh murmured in shock, eyes disbelieving.

I smirked as murmurs of shock rippled through the crowd. I had been planning to go easy on the Soc at first; to let him think he was the one winning. Now all I wanted to do was slam the Soc into the dust and pulverise him into nothing. I could hear the Greaser side of the bleachers cheering as I got back into a receiving position.

As the match continued I easily returned all of the Soc's 'Rocket Serves' and before I knew it, it was my turn to serve. I got into position and threw the ball up, waiting for a split second before jumping up and swinging my racket. –Smack- the ball soared across the net and spun on the ground for a split second before speeding towards the Soc's face.

* * *

***Ponyboy POV***

I scanned the bleachers and quickly spotted Steve, Johnny and Two-Bit. They were surprisingly sitting beside Curly Shepard. Although, the fact that Curly had even shown up to school was a miracle all in itself.

I began weaving through the crowds of people, slowly making my way over to them. I squeezed in between Johnny and Steve, muttering a small hello.

"Hey Pone," Two-Bit greeted me. Steve and Johnny just nodded their heads in greeting. I looked up and found Johnny staring intently at Ryoma as he walked up to the Soc. I began to wonder what Johnny thought of Ryoma. Did he think him a gallant warrior like I did, or did he think of him as arrogant and cocky?

My attention was diverted back to the courts as both players got in position to start the match. I watched with anticipation as Josh bent down and served. The ball sailed over the net, heading full speed towards Ryoma. I recognized the shot as Josh's Rocket Serve.

I had to look closely to see the ball at the speed it was going. I was sure Ryoma wouldn't be able to return. So when he easily sent it sailing across the net with double the speed I was quite surprised. I could hear the Greasers around us cheering and I found myself joining in.

* * *

***Third Person***

Ryoma finished the first game quickly. He returned every serve Josh sent his way with ease. His movements were graceful and he seemed to glide right across the court.

"1-0, Winston leads," The referee's voice rang through the crowd.

* * *

***Ponyboy POV***

I looked over to see what the others thought about this and saw Johnny staring at the kid with admiration. I turned to watch as Ryoma got into position to serve. He tossed the ball up and jumped a second later. His racket collided with the ball sending it hurtling across the net. It spun on the ground for a moment before suddenly spiraling straight towards Josh's face.

My eyes widened in shock. _What kind of serve was that?_

"Twist serve," Johnny breathed out, completely awed. Twist serve? What was that?

My attention once again went to Ryoma as he prepared to serve again. I watched as he tossed the ball up, jumping after it a split second later and sending it speeding towards Josh. It was another twist serve.

* * *

***Johnny POV***

I couldn't bring myself to take my gaze off the kid. His movements, his taunts everything about him made me want to watch even more. As the match went on I found myself looking up to the kid even more. I had always wanted to learn tennis and after watching this match that feeling only grew.

I flinched as the Soc sent a cold glare towards the kid. I didn't know how the kid could be sent a glare like that and not even blink. He was definitely different.

But underneath and confident grin he wore I could see a deep pain in his eyes. I knew he had been hurt before, I knew that he had lost something or someone close to him. I could tell from that pain in his eyes; because it was the exact same look I saw in my own eyes every time I looked in the mirror.

* * *

***Ponyboy POV***

The rest of the match continued in much of the same matter; with Ryoma completely dominating Josh. Josh seemed to be getting fed up. When Ryoma sent a particularly skillful lob, Josh leapt up and swung his racket forward. Everyone gasped as his racket 'coincidently' slipped out of his hands and slammed straight into Ryoma's face.

Shouts of rage echoed around the bleachers, at least from the Greasers.

"That dirty son of a-" I could hear Curly Shepard cursing loudly, as he went on to call the Soc every curse word he could think of.

I felt myself holding my breath as Ryoma get up with a new fire in his eyes. Only one thought registered in my brain at the moment.

Ryoma better beat that Soc!

* * *

***Third Person***

Silence.

It echoed around the bleachers and courts like a mysterious force that prevented anyone from speaking. Josh lay collapsed on the ground, completely out of breath.

His racket lay just out of his reach on the bright green court. Beads of sweat soaked his hair and ran down his face, arms and legs. He was exhausted of all energy.

Ryoma on the other hand hadn't even broken a sweat. He stood leaning on the net with a smirk on his face. Everyone was stunned. A 12 year old had just beaten their 17 year old High School Captain of the tennis team.

"Are you gonna call that?" Ryoma asked the referee who was also frozen in shock.

"Game set, and match. 6-0, Ryoma Winston," At the referees words the Greaser side of the stands erupted into cheers.

All the Soc's then proceeded to leave; Greasers taunting them as they left. Josh got up with a look of fury etched on his face and stormed off the courts, completely ingoring his teammates who were waiting for him.

Ryoma was then surrounded by Greasers he had never seen before, who patted him on his back and congratulated him.

He saw Ponyboy, standing behind him with a couple other boys who looked older than him. Ryoma was about to head over to them when a voice rang around the courts.

"What the fuck is going on here? When I get my hands on that little shit-" Ryoma froze. He knew that voice anywhere. Apparently so did Ponyboy and his friends, for they spun around and came face to face with the livid form of none other than Dallas Winston.

_Shit,_ Ryoma thought.

* * *

**N/A**

**So anyway, that's chapter 3. Next chapter Dallas makes an entrance! Ryoma also meets the gang next chapter. **

**QUESTIONS.**

**1. Should this story be Yaoi, Shonen Ai, or straight?**

**2. Should Ryoma end up living with Darry, Soda and Pony, because Dally don't have a house. Or should Dally have a house in this fic?**

**Please Review!**


	4. An Angry Cousin and a Menace

**A/N So here's the next chapter! Oh and anyone thinking that the gang, or more specifically Johnny and Ponyboy calling Ryoma 'kid' is weird, well it's only natural. Ryoma is only 12. which makes him two years younger than Ponyboy :)**

**Anyway, I have come to the conclusion that Ryoma will live with the Curtis's and it will be either Yaoi or Shonen Ai. Pairings Poll below :)**

**Warning: Swearing, a lot of it two. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders or Prince of Tennis. **

**Chapter 4**

**An Angry Cousin and a Menace**

* * *

***Third Person POV***

Steve, Johnny, Two-Bit and Ponyboy walked in silence behind the two cousins, both of whom were glaring heatedly at each other. Everyone was currently making their way to the Curtis household.

Two-Bit covered his mouth with his hands, trying to stifle his laughter. He decided immediately he liked the kid. Anybody who was able to get under Dallas Winston's skin was a friend of his.

Steve shook his head, a small smirk like smile on his face. He didn't know what he thought of the kid. Steve's thoughts at the moment included cocky, arrogant, amusing, interesting and _tuff_. But for the most part the kid seemed like a cocky brat.

Johnny's first impression of the kid was that he either had to be stupid or insane to make a bet like _that_ with a _Soc_. His thoughts changed though after he watched the game. It was obvious Ryoma had the skills to back up his confidence.

Ponyboy didn't know what to think of the younger Winston. On the outside Ryoma seemed like a nice kid, overly-confident and cocky, but a nice kid. He couldn't help but wonder though if there was something underneath that mask Ryoma wore. It just seemed like Ryoma was hiding something and Ponyboy wanted to find out what.

Ryoma sighed irritably from where he walked beside Dallas. He could feel everyone behind him staring straight into the back of his head. Quite frankly, it was starting to become unnerving. He glanced at his cousin, only to see that he was still angry. Ryoma didn't know what the big deal was, sure he had caused unnecessary shit, but he had only taught the Soc a lesson, he couldn't understand what Dallas was so mad about.

_**Flashback**_

_"What the fuck is going on here? When I get my hands on that little shit-" Ryoma froze. He knew that voice anywhere. Apparently so did Ponyboy and his friends, for they spun around and came face to face with the livid form of none other than Dallas Winston._

_Shit, Ryoma thought as he turned around to see his cousin had spotted him and was marching angrily towards him. _

"_Yo," Ryoma muttered, looking straight at Dallas's angry face._

"_What fuck do you think you're doing?" Dallas shouted angrily. Ryoma had to stop himself from flinching at his Cousin's loud voice. _

"_Playing tennis, what does it look like?" Ryoma smirked._

"_Don't be a fucking smart ass," Dallas snapped. "I thought I told you to stay out of shit today?"_

_Ryoma looked at his feet. "The Soc started it."_

"_I don't care who started the goddamned thing," Dallas shook his head and glared. It was then that he noticed the crowd of people that were watching with anticipation. Dallas grabbed Ryoma's arm and began dragging him in the direction of the Curtis's. He could see Two-Bit, Johnny, Steve and Pony following, but didn't pay them any heed._

_Once he was sure they were out of ear-shot from any curious Greasers who were stupid enough to try and follow them, he turned to face his cousin._

"_Do you have any idea how scared shitless I was when you didn't show up at Buck's after school?" Dallas was angry as hell. "I thought you had been jumped or something. Then I go looking for you only to find you playing goddamned tennis!"_

"_Wow, I didn't know _the_ Dallas Winston cared," Ryoma replied, not paying any attention to the glare Dallas sent his way._

_Two-bit burst of laughter caused Dallas to glare at him instead. "I swear Mathews, if you don't shut up, I'll shut you up myself!" He then turned to look at Ryoma who was glaring straight ahead of him. _

"_I don't get what the big deal is," Ryoma muttered._

"_The big deal is you could have gotten the shit kicked out of you by that Soc," Dallas snapped, wondering if what he was trying to tell Ryoma was just going though one ear and out the next._

"_But he didn't and please, if you were there you would have kicked the shit out of that Soc if he even made one remark to you about the whole Greaser and Soc thing."_

"_Yeah, but unlike you, I can defend myself. You wouldn't stand a chance against a Soc in a real fight," Dallas didn't know what to say to get the kid to fucking understand that he was no match for a group of fucking Soc's._

"_How do you know?" Ryoma was determined to make his cousin see he wasn't a fucking kid. He could handle his own problems. "I'm not a kid!"_

"_Fine next time you get the shit knocked out of you don't come crying to me!" Dallas decided it was useless to try and reason with the kid._

"_As if!" Ryoma muttered. They then settled into a heated silence._

_**Flashback End**_

Ryoma, noticing this wasn't the way to Buck's, turned to his cousin. "Where are we going?" He asked.

"To the Curtis's," Was Dally's short reply.

"What about Karupin? She need to be fed," Ryoma muttered.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll call Buck and tell him to feed the damned menace." Dallas didn't understand why the kid was so fond of a cat.

"She's not a menace," Ryoma snapped.

Dallas shook his head. "Whatever you say."

It only took them a couple minutes to reach the lot, after that it was only a couple more minutes until they arrived at the Curtis household.

Ryoma sighed, _I can't believe he called Karupin a menace_, he thought with a huff.

* * *

**A/N**

**This is the poll for who should Ryoma get together with. Personally I like the first three. Just because Ryoma is the ultimate Uke, but I would like to see what my readers think.**

**Curly Shepard**

**Sodapop**

**Steve**

**Johnny**

**Ponyboy**

**Two-Bit**

**Anyway, BTW I sort changed the last chapter a bit, not enought that you have to go back and read, but yeah :)**

**So anyway, to all those who read this please review :)**


	5. Meeting The Gang

**A/N **

**So anyway, as for the poll Soda, Curly and Steve are tied for first. Most people gave me two options, some people made a list and some gave me three. So I just ended up taking your first two listed.**

**Curly - - - 3**

**Steve - - -3**

**Ponyboy - - 2**

**Sodapop - - - 3**

**Two-Bit – 1**

**So I've decided for this story it will be SodaxRyoma and CurlyxRyoma. The two will obviously be competing for who gets Ryoma. Who he ends up with in the end is still a secret. Also Ryoma and Ponyboy and Johnny will have a close friendship.**

**BTW This story takes place before Windrex Ville. So yes, at the moment Soda is together with Sandy. **

**Chapter 5**

**Meeting The Gang **

* * *

Ryoma's first thought of the house was that it looked old. The grass that was supposed to make up the lawn had practically died off. The porch had some broken boards and looked worn out. But upon closer examination he realized it was one of the nicer houses on the block. The roof was in pretty good shape and the lawn was clear of nearly all garbage, save for a few tires.

As he stepped onto the porch the wooden boards creaked under his weight. He entered the house behind Dallas and looked around.

The house looked surprisingly clean and organized on the inside. To his left was a small living room. To his right was a doorway the led into the kitchen and had a door leading to the backyard. Along the wall of the living room was a stairwell, no doubt leading to the second floor, where he guessed were the bedrooms.

"Hey Pone, how was school?"

"Fine."

Ryoma snapped back to reality and for the first time noticed another kid on the couch. The first thing Ryoma noticed was how handsome the kid looked. He had long, golden hair that was combed back and he seemed to have a lot less grease in his hair than the others. Another quality Ryoma noticed was his eyes; they were a dark brown that went perfectly with his hair.

It took Ryoma a minute to realize he was the only one still standing. Dally had sat down in the armchair and the three guys (Ryoma still didn't know their names) had taken seats on the floor. Ponyboy had already sat down on the couch beside the kid with movie star looks.

Ryoma didn't know whether to continue standing or sit down on the ground.

"Hey who's the kid?" Soda asked staring at the kid standing in the doorway.

"Oh, that's Ryoma Winston, he's Dally's cousin," Pony explained to his brother.

Soda looked up at the kid, who couldn't be any older than 12. The first thing he noticed was the kid's appearance. The kid had shoulder length, shiny, black hair with an emerald tinge to it. Soda couldn't help but be drawn to the kid's cat like golden eyes. Another thing he noticed was that despite the soft, feminine look the kid possessed, the kid held a sort of fiery determination in his eyes. Overall the kid looked exotic, or at least that's what Soda thought. Aint no way in hell did the kid look like a Greaser.

"Hey Dal you sure this kid's related to you?" Soda asked.

Dally and rest of the gang looked at Soda, wondering what he was getting at.

"Yeah, the kid's from Japan, why?" Dally asked, looking at his cousin then back to Soda.

"Because he sure is a doll," Soda smirked.

Two-bit and Steve made a choking sound. Johnny's eyes widened and Ponyboy wondered if his brother was suicidal, considering the looks both Dally and Ryoma were giving him promised pain.

"Listen here Curtis; you better stay the hell away from my cousin!" Dally threatened, glaring at Soda.

"Relax Dal, I was just jokin' with ya," Soda looked back to the kid who now had a slight blush on his cheeks, but still had an angry look on his face. "Besides, I aint queer."

Ryoma didn't know whether to be embarrassed or angry that he was being called a doll. Both, he decided as he caught sight of the joking look on the guys face.

"That's a relief," The guy with wearing a mickey mouse shirt exclaimed. "I'm pretty sure Sandy wouldn't be too happy if her boyfriend was queer."

Steve nodded and then smirked. "Besides you aint one to talk, according to half the girls in Tulsa, you're also a doll."

"Shut up Steve," Soda snapped at his best friend.

Dallas suddenly stood up. "Look, I'm going out for a bit, I'll be back in a couple hours. Could you possibly stay out of any shit until I get back?" Dallas addressed his cousin, who smirked cheekily.

"Sure thing your Lordship," Ryoma smirked as Dally shook his head and ducked as Dally tried to scuff him upside the head.

"Fucking smart ass brat," Ryoma heard Dally mutter as he left the house, slamming the door behind him.

For some reason he suddenly felt subconscious as everyone turned to stare at him. He was about to ask them what their problem was when the guy with the Mickey Mouse shirt burst out laughing.

"I got to hand it to ya kid, not many would dare speak to ol' Dally like that," The guy wearing the Mickey Mouse chuckled. Ryoma then noticed that everyone in the room had amused smirks on their faces.

"Mada Mada Dane, Mickey Mouse," Ryoma said.

"Mickey Mouse?" Questioned Two-bit.

"Well you still haven't told me your name yet, so Mickey Mouse seemed to fit, considering you're watching the show and wearing a Mickey Mouse Shirt," Ryoma explained to the dumbfounded Two-Bit.

Steve, Johnny, Pony and Soda chuckled.

"What does Mada Mada Dane mean?" Steve asked.

"It means you still have a long ways to go Grumpy," Ryoma smirked at Steve's indignant face when he realized Ryoma had also made a nickname for him too.

At this everyone, even Two-Bit, burst out into laughter.

"I like you kid!" 'Mickey Mouse' smiled and chuckled heartily.

"You sure are gutsy," Soda added.

"And you're a doll pretty-boy," Ryoma countered, taking his revenge from earlier, when he was called a doll.

"M' name is Sodapop, Sodapop Curtis," Soda explained to the kid. "Them over there are Johnny Cade, Steve Randle, Keith Mathews or Two-Bit, and Ponyboy Curtis; he's my kid brother." Soda pointed to each person in turn. Everyone said a quick hello.

Ryoma just glared at everyone.

"Why don't you sit down? Darry won't be home for couple hours, he's my older brother," Ryoma nodded and sat down in the chair Dally had been sitting in a few minutes earlier.

"So how are you related to Dally?" Ponyboy asked.

"His mother and my mother were sisters," Ryoma explained shifting in the armchair, trying to get comfortable.

"So how'd ya like Tulsa?" This time it was Soda asking.

"It's okay," Ryoma muttered. Truth was he didn't like it; he didn't even want to be here. He would rather be in Japan, with his friends, not in some dusty, backwater town.

"He ended up getting into a fight with a Soc today," Johnny spoke up, for the first time since they had arrived.

"Yeah and he creamed that Soc's ass in a game of tennis!" Added Two-Bit.

"A fight? You don't seem like the kinda kid to get in a fight," Soda commented, turning his gaze to Ryoma.

"The guy was being a bastard and wouldn't let me use the tennis courts, so I challenged him to a game," Ryoma shrugged nonchalantly.

"So why'd ya move here?" Soda asked.

Ryoma froze and looked at his feet. He shifted uncomfortably. That was the one question he had been avoiding. "My parents died," Ryoma murmured softly, but the gang still heard.

"Wow, sorry," Two-Bit muttered and the rest of the gang also said sorry.

"Don't worry about it," Ryoma chided.

"If it makes you feel any better, me and Ponyboy's parents died a couple years ago," Soda consoled.

"Well it doesn't, so why don't you just drop it!" Ryoma snapped, not in the mood to talk about his parents, especially to a bunch of strangers.

After that the group settled into an uncomfortable silence. No one wanted to be the one to break it, so they all turned their attention to the T.V. After a couple hours of watching random things on T.V the door opened.

Ryoma turned around to see a large, well-built, young looking man walk through the door. He looked tired, but also relieved.

"Hey Dar, tough day at work?" Soda asked.

_This must be Soda's older brother._ _Hmmm, he's younger than I thought; looks barely even 20. _Ryoma thought.

"Yeah," Darry mumbled. His eye's widened slightly as he caught sight of another kid sitting in what was supposed to be his arm chair.

"Who's this?" Darry asked.

"The President of the United States," Two-Bit answered and began laughing at his own joke.

"He's Dal's cousin," Soda explained, shaking his head in exasperation.

_Great!_ Darry thought. _Another Dallas, just what I need!_

"Darry Curtis," Darry introduced himself, holding out his hand, as he tried to sound as polite as possible.

"Ryoma Echizen," Ryoma shook Darry's hand. Ryoma didn't know what it was about Darry, but it made Ryoma instantly respect him.

"Wait, I thought your last name was Winston?" Johnny asked, confused.

"No, I just said that, because I thought it would be amusing to see everyone's reaction," Ryoma shrugged like it was no big deal.

"More like you wanted to cause unnecessary shit," Steve muttered under his breath, but Darry unfortunately ended up hearing him.

"Language!" Darry scolded, before turning back to Ryoma. "Nice to meet you. You guys behave; I'm going to go make dinner."

With that Darry entered the kitchen and sighed in relief. The kid seemed decent enough, nothing like Dallas. He took out a couple boxes of macaroni when the door was slammed open. An angry Dallas stormed into the house and when he noticed Darry was home he stormed into the kitchen.

"I need to talk to you Darry," Dally muttered, rubbing the back of his head, as if he were embarrassed.

"What is it?" Darry asked, setting down the boxes of macaroni.

"Well it's more like I need to ask ya a favour."

* * *

**A/N**

**OMG! I'm watching the Extended version of the Outsiders movie! LOVE it so far. The music is okay in most part's, save for a few where it really distracts you from the movie and ruins the moment. **

**Anyway, tell me how you like it so far. Is everyone in character? Is there anything you would like to see happen? Is there anything you dislike? Am I moving too fast? Please tell me anything you think, even if it's not the nicest thing in the world **

**Please Review, constructive criticism welcomed and for this chapter, flames are also welcomed.**


	6. What About Dallas?

**Hello to all my readers. I'm sorry it took me two weeks to update, but I had a case of writers block and some trouble putting this chapter into words. I would like to thank you all for being patient and for all the suggestions you gave me in your reviews. I would also like to thank Tiger723 for helping me on parts of the chapter.**

**Enjoy! **

**Chapter 6**

_**What About Dallas?**_

* * *

**Last Time**

_"Hey Dal you sure this kid's related to you?" Soda asked._

_"Yeah, the kid's from Japan, why?" Dally asked, looking at his cousin then back to Soda._

_"Because he sure is a doll," Soda smirked._

…

_"So why'd ya move here?" Soda asked._

_"My parents died," Ryoma murmured softly, but the gang still heard._

_"If it makes you feel any better, me and Ponyboy's parents died a couple years ago," Soda consoled._

…

_Great! _Darry thought._ Another Dallas, just what I need!_

…

_"I need to talk to you Darry," Dally muttered, rubbing the back of his head, as if he were embarrassed._

_"What is it?" Darry asked, setting down the boxes of macaroni._

_"Well it's more like I need to ask ya a favour."_

**Currently**

Darry's eyes widened at the tone in Dallas's voice. He could tell Dally was actually being serious about this. "Sit down," Darry said calmly, taking a seat at the kitchen table.

Dallas sat down without any hesitation, taking a seat across from Darry.

"So what is it?" Darry asked, getting right to the point.

"Well ya see..." Dallas shifted nervously in his seat, feeling unusually uncomfortable. Darry stared at him in silence and Dallas could tell he was waiting for him to say something.

Dallas rubbed the back of his head again and sighed. "I need help with Ryoma," He admitted, setting his pride aside. He didn't like asking favours, and he sure as hell didn't like asking for help either.

"What do you mean, you need help? Exactly what kind of help?" Darry probed.

"C'mon Darry, you and I both know that I don't know shit about takin' care of a kid," Dallas leaned back in his chair, "Besides I can't have him stayin' at Bucks, that aint no place for a 12 year old."

"What about the kid's parents?" Darry asked, clueless to the kid's past.

Dally shook his head, eyes downcast. "The kid's parents both kicked the bucket."

Darry frowned, thinking of Sodapop, or more specifically Ponyboy and how he was after their parents had died. Pony had been devastated and so had Soda. "Doesn't he have any other relatives or family members?"

"The kid has a brother, but's he's been missing for more than a few years. Other than that I'm the only family the kid's got. His mom and mine were sisters." Dally explained.

"I guess it's alright if he stays here. He can take Ponyboy's old room," Darry concluded and Dallas nodded, relieved Darry had agreed so easily, "- But you know I can't afford to pay the kid's schooling, I have my hand's full enough already, trying to keep Pony in school."

"Yeah, yeah, I got ya," Dally muttered.

"You thinking about going to get a job or something'?" Darry was curious. What was Dally planning to do about the kid's schooling? He sure as hell wouldn't allow Dally to let the kid drop out.

"Nah, the State said his parents left him enough money to get through high school and college, but it's in a fund that can only be accessed by the State." Dally explained, standing up.

Darry nodded in approval. Ryoma's parents had obviously been pretty damn smart when it came to the kid's tuition. This way no matter who the kid's guardian was or where he moved the kid would still be able to finish school. Even if the kid's parents hadn't died, the kid would have still had a set tuition to get him through school.

"Why don't you go tell the kid he's stayin' here? I'll finish cooking up some food," Darry suggested and Dally nodded. Heading out of the kitchen, he paused in the doorway.

"Hey Darry…thanks. I owe ya one."

Darry felt his jaw drop, but continued cooking anyway.

* * *

Ryoma looked up as Dally entered the house, completely ignoring everyone as he headed into the kitchen. Ryoma's curiosity only grew as hushed voices drifted into the living room from inside the kitchen.

"What'd ya think their talking about?" This surprisingly came from Johnny, who had barely spoken at all that evening.

Ryoma shrugged, chances were they were talking about him.

"Knowin' Dally their probably talking about the kid here," Two-Bit remarked.

This caused Ryoma to pause for a moment. To be truthfully honest he didn't know anything about Dally. It made him wonder about his cousin. "What's Dally like anyway?" Ryoma asked, looking at the people around him.

He was instantly bombarded with millions of different answers at once. Ryoma patiently waited for the group to calm down before asking again.

"Would you mind telling me again, but this time a bit slower without all of you talking over each other?" Ryoma questioned, smirking.

"Dal's okay. He can be kind of a hassle some day's and doesn't like to do things the legal way, actually he'll purposely try not to do things the legal way, but he's okay." Sodapop explained.

"Not to mention he has a file a mile long down at the station!" Two-Bit smiled, after trying to hold a serious face and failing miserably. "Oh and don't make him mad, it might just be the last thing you ever do."

"Dally doesn't care about much, well except Johnny that is," Steve added and Johnny blushed.

"Come to think of it, he can be pretty hard to deal with," Two-bit added as an afterthought.

"Dally's a good friend to have, but he also has a bit of a temper. He's cold, hard and mean." Ponyboy summarized.

"Who's cold, hard and mean?"

Ryoma momentarily froze, shocked by the sudden voice behind him. He looked around to see Dally. The rest of the gang went rigid.

"Hey Dal," Two-Bit tried to change the subject, but Dally wouldn't have any of that.

"You didn't answer me," He stated, eyebrows raised and waiting. "Who exactly is cold, hard and mean?"

Ponyboy could tell no one else was going to say anything. He quickly began thinking of someone else. He ended up shouting out the first name that came to his mind and that just happened to be- "Tim Shepard."

When no one else moved and Dally just stood there, Ponyboy decided to elaborate. He made sure to keep his voice as casual as possible. "We were just telling Ryoma who he should watch out for around Tulsa."

Ryoma stifled a smirk. He found this situation incredibly amusing for some reason. Probably because it was someone other than him getting put in the spotlight for once. He turned to look at Dallas, only to see him nodding in approval.

"The Shepard's are nothing but trouble, stay away from Tim and his kid brother Curly. Angela aint no angel sent from heaven either," Dally lectured and Ryoma rolled his eyes.

"Are you listening? This is valuable information I'm teachin' ya," Dally snapped, cuffing Ryoma over the head.

Ryoma glared at his cousin and nodded. "Of course I am, got nothing better to do."

"Why you-," Dally stopped himself mid-sentence. Lecturing the kid didn't work, so why waste his breath?

"You better listen hard at the things I'm tellin ya' kid, if ya' want to stay out of trouble that is." Ryoma just rolled his eyes at his cousin, but listened anyway. Another 10 minutes went by before Darry came out of the kitchen, telling them it was dinner time.

"-And lastly, stay away from Buck's, unless I'm with you." Dally finished and Ryoma sighed in relief.

"You sure you didn't forgot anything? Maybe you'd rather just keep me locked inside until I finish High-school?" Ryoma scoffed, not taking into account the angry look from his cousin.

"Don't you be getting' smart with me kid," Dallas snapped, taking a seat at the table.

Quite frankly Ryoma was stunned. How 8 kids could manage to fit at such a small table was a mystery. But somehow they managed it. As a bowl of macaroni was placed in front of him Ryoma made a face. He didn't like American food. He sighed, knowing he would have to suck it up or starve.

'_Better get to used to it'_ He thought with a sigh.

* * *

**A/N**

**I had originally planned for this chapter to be longer, but then decided to end it here. Don't know why, but it just happened. I've already started writing the next chapter!**

**Please read and review!**


	7. Dinner With The Curtis's

**Here's the next chapter. Sorry it pretty uneventful, but the next-next chapter will be better. Promise.**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN PRINCE OF TENNIS OR THE OUTSIDERS.**

**A New Life Chapter 7**

_**Dinner With the Curtis's**_

* * *

Johnny took another bite of macaroni. He felt oddly relieved. So far dinner had been going smoothly, which was unusual, especially at the Curtis household. He checked the time. It was already 6:30, the sun would be setting in about 3 and a half hours. He absentmindedly decided to spend the night in the lot, or maybe crash on the Curtis's couch. His dad had been in a bad mood lately.

He looked around at the rest of the gang. Ponyboy was talking to Darry and Soda about the upcoming track season. Two-Bit was being Two-Bit and Steve was looking generally annoyed.

Dally had left in the middle of dinner. He said something about heading over to Buck's to get the kid's stuff. Dally had told the kid that he would be staying with the Curtis's instead of Bucks. Ryoma had brushed it off nonchalantly, but Soda and Ponyboy had looked curiously at the emerald haired kid, probably wondering what it would be like to live with him.

Johnny let his eyes wander over to Ryoma, who was picking at his bowl of macaroni. Throughout dinner the kid had barely said a word, unless it was to make a smart ass comment. Two-Bit had stated that the Ponyboy now had some competition for who was the biggest smart-ass of the house.

Johnny found Ryoma strange. The kid acted cocky, arrogant and rude, but he seemed to also be hurting inside. His eyes didn't project the cocky appearance the rest of him did. They showed deep pain and longing; they showed a loss of something important in his life.

His thoughts were interrupted when Ryoma lifted his head and their eyes met. Johnny froze, knowing he had been caught staring. For some reason though, Ryoma didn't look mad. He looked …..curious.

* * *

Ryoma had spent most of dinner poking at the macaroni. Even though he had told himself to get over it, he just didn't feel hungry. All he wanted to do at the moment was sleep. He had been told he would be staying with the Curtis's and he didn't mind. Anywhere was good so long as he didn't have to listen to the racket that constantly filled the downstairs of Buck's.

Throughout dinner everyone chatted with everyone, like one big family. The only difference- he was there. He wasn't part of their big, happy family and he didn't want to be. His family was in Japan. His parents were dead, buried beneath the earth and the regulars, whom he considered family, were probably still getting over his move to America. _They_ were his family.

He looked up from his bowl of food and found himself staring into the eyes of the person across from him. Ryoma remembered the guy's name was Johnny. For some reason he had a feeling that Johnny had been staring at him for a while.

Instead of turning away Ryoma stared right back at him. He was curious about Johnny. He remembered the guy called Steve had mention Johnny was supposedly one of the only things his cousin loved. He didn't know much about his cousin, but he knew Dallas rarely let people penetrate the hard shell he wore and weasel their way into his heart. Johnny must be something special to do that. Ryoma himself had never been able to. He watched as Johnny's eyes widened ever so slightly at being caught staring.

Yep, He decided. Johnny was definitely something special.

* * *

"Hey Johnny. Two-Bit and I are going to show Ryoma around town tomorrow, you wanna come?" Ponyboy asked looking over at his friend.

Johnny quickly looked away from Ryoma and instead focused his attention on his best friend. "Why not?" He murmured.

Ponyboy looked curiously between Ryoma and Johnny, before shrugging. He could have sworn the two had been staring heatedly at each other, but then decided it was probably just his imagination. Lord knows he had a big one.

After dinner everyone settled into the living room. Darry sat down in his recliner, reading the newspaper. Ponyboy and Johnny sat on the couch. Steve, Two-Bit and Soda sat around the coffee table, playing a game of poker and Ryoma sat down in the arm chair.

Dally returned around 8. He carried with him two large garbage bags filled with stuff and a cat carrier. The minute Ryoma saw the cat carrier he took it away from Dallas, opening it immediately.

Everyone's eyes widened curiously as a white Himalayan spotted cat jumped out and into Ryoma lap, purring loudly.

"What's its name?" Ponyboy asked, eyes wide with interest.

"It's a her, not an it," Ryoma scowled. "And_ her_ name is Karupin."

Darry eyed the cat with a frown. "You didn't tell me I was responsible for a cat too," Darry looked towards Dally, who was humming nonchalantly.

"C'mon Darry, I'll make sure to pay for the thing's food every week. Bedside's the menace isn't that bad," Dally tried to persuade Darry.

Ryoma's glare was directed towards Dally this time and Darry sighed. "Fine, but it better be house trained."

Ryoma's scowl deepened, but he smiled inside. He didn't know what he would do if he wasn't allowed to keep Karupin. She was part of _his_ family. He let his lips quark up into a barely noticeable smile. Unbeknownst to him Ponyboy and Johnny were both looking at him with a hint of shock. This was the first time they had seen him shown any affection towards something, much yet smile.

Ryoma's happiness quickly dissipated as Karupin left his lap. He looked up in shock to find her now sitting in Sodapop's_. Traitor_ He thought venomously and frowned (Cough, Pouted, Cough).

Soda looked down in surprise at the cat in his lap. He began petting it's head and received a small purr in response. Steve frowned. Now he had a cat distracting his best friend from their poker game instead of a _pony._

"It's about time we had a girl in the house," Two-Bit joked. "Too bad she doesn't cook and clean though…"

Ponyboy, Johnny, Soda and Darry chuckled at Two-Bit's attempt at humour.

"You forgot one thing Two-Bit," Soda stated.

"I did?" Two asked. What he had forgotten.

"Yeah, she aint blonde either." Soda laughed at Two-Bit's face, the rest of the gang joinging in, even Two-Bit.

Ryoma didn't know why the gang laughed at that statement and he didn't care. All he cared about was that _his_ cat was not sitting in _his_ lap and had left _him_ for a stranger.

Two-Bit suddenly stood up. "Well I better be getting home. Ma's working the night shift and wants me to watch my sis." Everyone said a quick good-bye and Two-Bit left with the promise to be back in the morning.

About 5 minutes later both Steve and Dally also left. Steve decided it was time to get some sleep, considering both he and Soda had to work in the morning and Dally deciding it was time to hunt some action at Buck's.

"Johnny are you going to stay the night here?" Ponyboy asked.

Johnny shook his head. "Nah, it's pretty nice out tonight, I'll probably just stay in the lot, look at some stars."

"You sure?" Pony pressed.

Johnny nodded and quietly left after bidding everyone goodnight.

The house was plunged into an awkward silence. Ryoma sat on the floor, trying to ignore the tense atmosphere. He finally stood up, not being able to stand the quiet any longer. He turned to Ponyboy an idea forming in his head.

"Got any paper?" He asked, not specifying what he needed it for.

Ponyboy looked surprised, but nodded. "Yeah, just give me a sec' and I'll grab some." Ponyboy left the room and returned a minute later. He was holding five, clear sheets of lined paper. Ponyboy handed the sheets to Ryoma, who instantly left the room, heading upstairs to his bedroom. Karupin followed him.

The three brother continued to watch T.V. Darry and Soda retired to bed around 10. Pony decided since it was a Friday, and he didn't have school in the morning, it was okay to stay up for a bit. By 11 he decided to retire for the night. As he quietly shut off the T.V and headed upstairs he paused in front of his old room, now Ryoma's.

The door was open a crack. Ponyboy inched forward, trying to make as little noise as possible. He got as close to the door as he could without moving it and looked through the crack. He was surprised to see Ryoma sitting at his old desk, furiously staring down at the blank piece of paper in front of him. Ponyboy nearly jumped in fright as Karupin let out a loud mewl.

He pressed his back against the strip of wall between Ryoma's door and the one he shared with Sodapop. He forced his breathing to slow down.

"I know, I'll go to bed soon Karupin. I just have to finish the letter," Ryoma's voice drifted out from the room. Ponyboy quickly inched towards his bedroom door. As he lay down in bed he couldn't help but think of Ryoma's words.

Who was he writing a letter too? Why? He remembered what Darry had told him after Ryoma had gone upstairs.

_(Flashback)_

_The brothers watched as Ryoma headed up the stairs towards his room. Darry let out a long sigh, causing Ponyboy and Soda to look at him with worry._

"_What's wrong Dar?" Soda asked and Pony waited curiously for his brother's answer. _

_Darry shook his head. "It's nothing important, just thinking of the kid."_

"_Watcha thinking?" Pony asked, wondering why his brother sounded so troubled._

"_Well it's just that the kid's only 12. Dally said his parents died. It just doesn't seem fair that the kid's being shipped off to live with someone he barely knows," Darry explained. Truthfully told that was only half of what Darry was worrying about. The kid was so young and seemed so vulnerable. He didn't belong with the rest of them. Greasers. _

_Soda nodded in understanding. "Well there aint much we can do about it except watch out for the kid."_

_Pony smiled at Soda's words. He was right, all they could do was watch out for the kid. _

_Darry turned to Pony. "When you're with him make sure to watch out for him. Make sure he stays out of trouble k?" _

_Pony nodded and the brothers settled back into a comfortable silence. No one really paying much attention to the T.V._

_(Flashback End)_

Darry was right. It wasn't fair. The kid's parents had died not too long ago and now he was being shipped off to live with a cousin he barely knew, in a town he had probably never even heard of.

Pony wondered what the kid thought of this. Did he have friends back where had used to live? Friend's he that he was missing? What was his life like before now? Thoughts of the strange boy filled Ponyboy's mind as he eventually drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Ryoma sat the desk in his room, the only light coming from a small lamp. He had suddenly remembered Tezuka had given him a note with his postal code on it so Ryoma could send the team letters. He was currently debating on how to start his letter. Should he write to each team-member individually or just write one letter to the whole team.

After about five minute of debating over it he decided to go with one letter. Grabbing the pencil he began writing for the first time since he had sat down at the desk an hour and half ago.

_Dear Sempai-tachi._

* * *

**A/N**

**So how was it? Next chapter Two-Bit, Ponyboy and Johnny give Ryoma a tour of Tulsa! Maybe I'll even throw in Curly.**

**Please Review!**


	8. Two-Bit's Tour Extravaganza

**Okay, So here's the next chapter. I know it took a while, but to make up for it I already have the next two chapters completely finished just in need of a bit of editing. Sorry the tour isn't exactly as awsome as I was going to make it out to be, but I think the next chapter makes up for it.**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN PRINCE OF TENNIS OR THE OUTSIDERS.**

**A New Life Chapter 8**

_**Two-Bit's Tour Extravaganza**_

* * *

Ryoma was having the best dream he'd had in ages. He hadn't dreamt this good since his parent's death. He was dreaming of the day Seigaku had won the Nationals. He still remembered how happy he had been; could still clearly picture the smiling faces of all his friends; how he had felt like he could do anything he could possibly imagine in that one moment.

His precious slumber was interrupted when something soft tickled his nose.

"5 more minutes Karupin," He murmured, raising a hand to gently brush whatever was tickling his nose away. He hadn't got to bed until a bit past midnight and was still extremely tired. Despite his best efforts though, the feeling continued, affectively ruining his dream.

He let out an irritated grumble and opened his eyes only to realise it wasn't Karupin tickling his nose. Instead he came face to face with a smiling Two-Bit, whose face was not even an inch away from his own.

Ryoma let out a startled cry and tumbled backwards off the bed. He landed with a loud thump, eyes wide with shock.

Two-Bit's loud raucous laughter filled the room causing Ryoma to narrow his eyes! The nerve of this guy!

Ryoma looked around and spotted his tennis bag. He took out one of his rackets and a tennis ball. Two-Bit was to busy laughing his head off to notice the two items held in Ryoma's hand and was unprepared when he was suddenly hit with the tennis ball that had been not so gently aimed straight at his face. To be frank, it sure didn't feel like sunshine and lollipops.

Two-Bit, who had stopped laughing, looked towards Ryoma, who already held another tennis ball ready in his hand. Two-Bit put both hands up defensively.

"Woah there, didn't mean to scare ya or anything." Two-Bit tried desperately to calm the furious 12-year-old down. "No need to do anything rash."

Ryoma wasn't listening as he threw the tennis ball in the air and hit it right at Two-Bit again. Two-Bit, who wasn't as stupid as he sometimes acted, decided it was time to high tail it out of there before he was once again, hit in the face with a tennis ball. He made it out the door just as the second ball whizzed past his face, missing him by inches.

Two-Bit let out a sigh of relief as he shut the door behind him and heard it lock with a loud click. He _definitely _would not be trying that again anytime soon.

* * *

Ponyboy looked up from his breakfast as Two-Bit entered the room, rubbing a large round welt right on his cheek. Ponyboy couldn't help but smirk when he realised what had probably happened.

"What are you smirking at?" Two-Bit grumbled as he took a seat at the table.

"Nothing," Ponyboy hastily replied, but Two-Bit only narrowed his eyes and shook his head in disbelief.

"That kid sure has a bit of Dally's violent side in him. The only difference is Dally never hit me in the face with a tennis ball when I tried to wake him up," Two-Bit complained, still rubbing his sore cheek. Ponyboy only rolled his eyes and went back to eating his breakfast.

A few minutes later Ryoma entered the room. He was wearing a pair of black jeans and a plain white button up shirt. His ever-present Filla cap on his head. He rubbed his eyes; no doubt trying to push away the last signs of fatigue.

"Glad to see someones feeling all fine and dandy," Muttered an irritated Two-Bit.

Ryoma shrugged, opening the fridge. "Mabey someone should learn to stay out of other people's rooms when their sleeping."

Two-Bit mumbled something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like _Fucking-Smart-Ass-Brat._

"How did you sleep?" Ponyboy asked, putting his plate in the sink.

"Fine," Was Ryoma's curt reply. He withdrew from inside the fridge holding 2 pieces of bread and an egg in his hands. Looking through the cupboards he was interrupted by someone tapping him on the shoulder.

Ryoma turned around to see Ponyboy holding a frying pan out for him. He took it and mumbled a short, polite, thanks, before getting to work on frying the egg. The toaster was easy to find considering it was placed neatly on the counter.

He sat down at the table, in between Ponyboy and Two-Bit. A fried egg and two perfectly toasted pieces of bread now occupied the white plate infront of him. He could feel the two pairs of eyes boring into him as he began eating, but tried to ignore them.

"Ready for the tour?" Two-Bit suddenly spoke up.

Ryoma nodded silently.

"You better be, because this aint no regular tour! It's Two-Bit's tour extravaganza!"

* * *

Ryoma felt like his feet were about to fall off. Don't get him wrong, he was used to long periods of physical activity, but he was definitely not used to being dragged all over a god-damned town at 11 am in the morning.

After dropping by the lot and picking up Johnny the quartet had begun their tour of Tulsa.

So far they had been to the post office in which Ryoma had been able to drop off his letter, 3 gas stations, 4 clothing stores, all of Two-Bit's favourite shop lifting spots, Bucks, the lot by Darry's house, the park, the elementary school, the middle school and the college. Two-Bit had even dragged them to their own god-damned school! Did he seriously think that Ryoma didn't know how to get to school when he had gotten there perfectly fine by himself yesterday?

Not only that, but they had also been to The Way Out and Rusty's. According to Two-Bit they were strictly off limit to all Greaser's. The two restaurants were in Soc territory. Of course they had also visited The Dingo and Jay's, which were mainly occupied by Greasers.

Now they were on their way to the Shepard's part of town. Two-Bit quickly explained to Ryoma that the Shepard's Gang was not to be messed with, unless of course you're Dally, who messes with everybody and anybody he want's to. Of course just because they weren't supposed to be messed with, if Ryoma was ever in trouble and no one from their own gang was around, he was instructed to head to one of the hang-outs occupied by the Shepard Gang. Two-Bit had explained that when it came to dealing with Soc's everyone on the East side had each others backs.

* * *

It was 2 pm by the time they arrived at the last stop of the day; The D.X Station, where Steve and Sodapop worked. The bell rang as Two-Bit opened the door and all four of us crowded inside.

Ryoma looked around only to find the store was empty, save for five girls who crowded around Soda and Steve. 4 out of the five girls were wearing skirts that were way to short and different colored spaghetti strap tank tops. Ryoma wasn't surprised they were also wearing way to much make-up to match.

_Sluts. _That was the only word Ryoma could think of to describe them at the moment. Well, he could probably come up with a few more so let me rephrase that. Slut was the most _decent _word Ryoma could come up with to describe them at that moment.

It was then that Ryoma got a closer look at the blonde that was practically hanging off Soda. She definitely stood out against the other four. She was also wearing a skirt, but it reached down to her ankles. Instead of a tank top she was wearing a short-sleeved blouse. At first glance she might have seemed decent. Actually to anyone other than Ryoma, she probably did seem decent. Also judging by the way Ponyboy so openly greeted her his judgment on her was correct.

For some reason though, Ryoma didn't like her. He didn't know why he didn't like her, he just didn't. Under that innocent look she possessed he could tell she was the kind to go around behind other's backs; the kind that wasn't as innocent as they looked.

Ryoma's train of thought was interrupted as Two-Bit dragged him forward, placing him in the middle of everyone there. "Everybody, meet Ryoma-"

Ryoma cut him off. "Ryoma Winston."

Ryoma could feel the guys giving him curious stares as to why he didn't let Two-Bit tell the girls his real name. He just shrugged, that was one secret he wasn't about to tell anybody anytime soon.

"Stevie, why didn't you tell me Dally's cousin was such a doll!" Evie exclaimed, more liked shreaked. Ryoma covered his ears and could see Johnny and Ponyboy doing the same. "Oh I'm Evangeline by the way, but most people call me Evie."

"Sandy."

"Sylvia."

"Katherine, but you can call me Kathy."

"Angela Shepard."

One by one each girl introduced themselves. Ryoma quickly found out that Sandy was dating Sodapop, Evie was dating Steve, Sylvia was dating Dallas and Kathy was dating Two-Bit. He had already known that Angela was Tim and Curly Shepard's little sister so she wasn't much of a surprise.

"He may be cute, but he kind of look's like a Soc, doesn't he?" Sylvia questioned, eyes narrowing. For some reason the direction the conversation was heading began to unnerve Ryoma.

"True," Sandy agreed.

"Isn't that what makes him cute though?" Evie debated.

"True," Sandy agreed once more.

"Yeah, but he would look a lot cuter if he looked less like a Soc," Sylvia once again argued.

It was Angela who came up with the brilliant idea that would make the next few hours of Ryoma's life hell. "I got an idea! Why don't we give him a makeover?"

"A makeover?" Sandy questioned and all the guys snickered, even Johnny. Ryoma narrowed his eyes. No way in hell was he about to let these girls give him a makeover. If anything, it was them who needed one.

"Perfect!" Sylvia exclaimed loudly.

"You can't honestly expect-" Ryoma began to object, but was cut off by Evie.

"It's decided than! Opperation Give Dally's Cousin a Makeover is now in progress!"

Ryoma could only stand there and curse his life.

* * *

A/N

So...how was it?

Again, sorry the tour was not as awsome as I was originally going to make it. I actually re-qrote this chapter several times. But as I said the next chapter will hopefully make up for that.

Anyway, please review! :P


	9. Makeover

**Yay, fininally satisfied with this chapter! I hope you are too, it took a lot of re-writing and re-thinking to create. The next chapter is also complete, but I'm going camping so don't expect an update until Monday. I promise it will be no later than Monday. **

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN PRINCE OF TENNIS OR THE OUTSIDERS.**

**A New Life Chapter 9**

_**Makeover**_

* * *

**Last Time**

_"A makeover?" Sandy questioned and all the guys snickered, even Johnny. Ryoma narrowed his eyes. No way in hell was he about to let these girls give him a makeover._

_"Perfect!" Sylvia exclaimed loudly._

_"You can't honestly expect-" Ryoma began to object, but was cut off by Evie._

_"It's decided than! Operation Give Dally's Cousin a Makeover is now in progress!"_

_Ryoma could only stand there and curse his life._

**Currently**

Ryoma was sitting on a chair in a room. Or, to be more specific; Ryoma was sitting on a wooden chair, in the middle of none other than _Angela Shepard's _room. Surrounding him were Kathy, Evie, Sandy, Sylvia, and Angela herself.

"Any ideas?" Kathy scanned him from top to bottom, and all Ryoma could do was glare.

They had successfully dragged him halfway across town, despite Ryoma's, very vocal, protests. Finally he had resigned himself to his much obvious fate; these girls would be giving him a makeover, even if they had to tie him down, and he had absolutely no say in the matter.

"I'm thinking greaser, but not to greaser. If you know what I mean," Angela stated, and all the girls nodded their agreement.

Ryoma let his eyes scan the room as they decided what to do with him. The floor was littered with multiple pieces of clothing, what looked like crumpled up homework, and other things all girls probably had on their bedroom floors. In one corner of the room was a small bed. The blankets and pillows on the bed, were of course, pink. Beside the bed was a large, brown vanity. On the vanity were various pieces of jewelry and what could only be Angela's extensive collection of make-up. On the walls of the room were pictures of famous, teen idols.

Overall, Angela's room was the epitome of what a teenage girl's room was supposed to look like.

"Jeans or Sweats?" Sandy asked, looking at him thoughtfully.

"Definitely sweats," Angela commented. She turned around and began to browse through what Ryoma assumed was her closet.

The rest of the gang was situated in the Shepard's living room downstairs. They were no doubt waiting to see the end result of girls 'hard work'.

"T-Shirt, Tang top, or long-sleeved?" Sylvia questioned, circling Ryoma, like a predator sizing up its prey.

"Hmm," Evie murmured, deep in thought. "I think we should go with a T-shirt."

Angela stuck her head out of the closet. "Let's go with a T-shirt with the sleeves ripped off to make it look like a tang-top."

The girls nodded their heads in agreement and Ryoma could only sit there and watch as they lined up different articles of clothing.

"Let's get this show on the road!" Sylvia exclaimed enthusiastically.

...

Two-Bit, Johnny, Ponyboy, Steve and Soda sat on the Shepard's couch, downstairs in the living room. They were quietly listening to the bangs and shouts that could be heard from upstairs.

Some members of the group, like Ponyboy and Johnny, felt sorry for the 12-year-old. Others, like Two-Bit, were laughing their heads off at the kids misfortune. Steve was thinking the kid deserved it for being a bigger smart-ass than Ponyboy and lastly there was Soda. Soda was looking forward to seeing how they transformed the kid. Why? He had absolutely no idea!

After about 15 minutes the shouts upstairs came ti a halt. A second later Sandy appeared at the top of the stairs. "We're just adding the finishing touches, we'll be down in a minute!" She chirped cheerfully. The guys all sat up anxiously, waiting to see what the kid would look like.

First Angela and Sylvia appeared, dragging along an apprehensive Ryoma. Sandy, Evie and Kathy took up the behind. The guys eyes widened. Gone were the kids Soc clothes and now he sort of resembled a greaser.

Ryoma was dressed in a pair of grey sweat pants and a brown T-Shirt. The sleeves of the T-shirt had been ripped off, giving it a more of a tang-top look. Of course the kid still wore his white cap, but other than that, he almost looked like a Greaser. _Almost. _

Soda was about to comment when a voice interrupted him; Well, a cat whistle interrupted him. "Wow, Winston. You almost look like a greaser. What happened to those Socish clothes you were wearin' the other day?"

Ryoma pulled his cap down to hide the light blush the covered his cheeks. _Why am I blushing? I've played tennis in front of millions of people and I'm blushing over the stares of a few strangers! _He thought with disdain. The rest of the gang laughed at Ryoma's dismay.

Angela, who had been off to the side, studying Ryoma, stepped forward. "You almost look perfect. Let's just get rid of this ugly cap."

Angela quickly grabbed the cap off Ryoma's head, causing him to freeze.

"Give it back," He muttered, voice oddly low and threatening.

Shaking her head, Angela tightened her grasp on the white object in her hands. "Why? It's not a nice cap anyway."

"I said give it back," Ryoma repeated, and if one listened closely they could hear a small growl in his voice. Ryoma lifted his head, looking Angela straight in the eye. His eyes were narrowed and burning with an odd sort of hate, causing her to flinch under his stare.

Trying not to be intimidated by the 12-year-old, she threw the cap on the ground. The rest f the gang watched on in alarm, wondering why Ryoma was getting so angry over a hat.

Angela stared at the cap she threw on the ground and looked up, a smirk on her face. Just as she looked up a loud -_Slap_- echoed around the room and a burning pain suddenly erupted in her cheek. She let out a yelp and her hands instinctively went to gingerly caress her burning, red cheek.

Looking across at the fuming tennis player she glared, tears springing in her eyes. Ryoma ignored her, picking up his cap off the ground and stalking out of the house, leaving behind the shocked group.

The gang broke out of their daze and looked towards the tearful and fuming Angela and the door where Ryoma had left.

"Wha-?" Soda started, but was cut off by Curly who jumped up.

"Be right back!" Curly shouted, running out the door.

...

Ryoma stalked down the streets, ignoring the curious stares of pedestrians and passerbys. He had come to the conclusion that he hated this town. He hated the town and all the arrogant people who lived here! He just wanted to go home.

He heard someone shout his name, but kept walking. He knew he would be questioned later, but honestly, it wasn't any of Dally's friends business. The rest of the gang probably hated him anyway, after he slapped their friend. But frankly, he couldn't bring himself to care. At the moment, he hated Angela from the bottom of his heart.

He heard his name being called again, this time closer, and quickened his pace. Just as he was about to turn the corner though, a hand grabbed onto his shoulder. He stopped and spun around, furious, only to see Curly Shepard staring at him. Oddly enough, Curly didn't seem angry, instead he seemed...sorry.

Brushing Curly's hand off his shoulder, he continued walking down the street. Curly kept up, walking beside him. When he showed no sign of leaving, Ryoma turned to look at him and he looked right back.

"What? If you expect me to apologize your wasting your time." Ryoma spat, golden eyes narrowing.

Curly only shook his head. "Nah, I know Angela can be a pain in the neck sometimes."

This caused Ryoma to pause for a moment before continuing down the sidewalk.

"Plus, she shouldn't have touched something that you obviously hold dear. It wasn't hers in the first place," Curly stated. Ryoma was mind boggled. According to Dally, Curly was the sort of kid who didn't have any brains in him and was rude and arrogant. The Curly Ryoma was seeing now, was the exact opposite.

Ryoma still remained silent, letting Curly continue he ramble.

"By the way, if you ever need any clothes or something, I have tons I'v grown out of that you could borrow." When Ryoma only nodded, Curly took this as a sign to continue. "So anyway, see ya around!"

Curly turned around and began his sprint back to his house, leaving Ryoma standing frozen on the when he arrived at the Curtis's, he ignored Darry's greating and went straight upstairs to his bedroom. Kaurpin leaped up beside him as he laid down on his bed.

_Curly Shepard, huh? _

_Mabey this town does have some decent people after all._

* * *

**A/N**

**You like it? I finally got Curly in there. Sorry if it was a bit cheesy or if Curly was a bit out of character. **

**Please Review.**

**I promise to update no later than Monday. **


	10. The Letter

**Fun Fact, I wrote this way before I wrote like the last 2-3 chapters. Don't ask why. I guess inspiration comes at different times, eh? Also if you want another fun little story see the Authors Note. **

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN PRINCE OF TENNIS OR THE OUTSIDERS.**

**A New Life Chapter 10**

_**The Letter**_

* * *

_September 7, Friday_

_Dear Sempai-Tachi _

_It's been a day since I've arrived in Tulsa Oklahoma. I wish I could say it isn't much different from Japan, but it's horribly different. Absolutely nobody in this backwater town plays tennis and the ones that do, absolutely suck. Tulsa also seems to be very behind on the technology around. I have yet to see somebody use an iPod or cellphone._

_I'm living with some friends of my cousin. Dally doesn't have a house and usually just bums around. My cousin is friends with this one group of guys that are apparently all part of their own little gang. That's another thing; you see a lot of small gangs down here. _

_The guys my cousin hangs out with are decent, or at least so far they are. There's Two-Bit, who likes Mickey Mouse. Then there's Steve, who really needs anger management, or at least that's what I think. His best friend is one of the guy's I'm living with and he's called Sodapop. Yes that's his real name. He also has a younger brother called Ponyboy. Their older brother Darrel, who takes care of them, got lucky when his parents named him. Then there's Johnny, don't know much about him- he's really shy._

_Apparently there's this thing between the East side and West side of town. The East side is where all the kid's with not so much money live. They're called Greasers. The West side is where all the rich kids live and their called Soc's. So Greaser's and Soc's apparently hate each other. Soc's like to jump Greaser's and so forth. I'm living on the East side so I just hope I don't get dragged into anything stupid. _

_Lastly I never thought I would say this, but I kind of miss Eiji-Sempai's hugs, Momo-Sempai giving me a ride to school every morning, Taka-Sempai's and his burning mode, Oishi-Sempai fussing over me, Fuji-Sempai blackmailing everybody, Tezuka-Buchou assigning me laps and telling me 'Not to let my guard down', Kaidoh-Sempai pushing me to do my best and even Inui-Sempai and his crazy juices. _

_Anyway, I want you all to know that you better not be slacking off because I'm not there and you better keep practising, because next time we meet I will be better than before and I'll challenge you all to a match. So I guess all I got left to say is…._

_Mada Mada Dane Sempai Tachi._

_Sincerely,_

_Echizen Ryoma_

_P.S. Karupin misses you. _

Fuji walked towards the clubroom, enjoying the beautiful morning air. The sun was shining brightly and birds chirped cheerfully. He opened the clubroom door and stepped inside, not saying a word.

_-Silence-_

It filled the clubroom until Fuji felt like he was suffocating in it. Looking around, he found that everyone but Momoshiro and Tezuka were present. He didn't dwell much on why Momoshiro was late, he usually was. The fact that Tezuka was late though unnerved Fuji. Tezuka was usually the first one there every morning. But then again, everyone had been a little off their game since Echizen left 3 days ago.

Since Echizen had left, everyone had changed somehow. Even if the change was barely noticeable to people outside the Regulars, Fuji could still tell. Echizens unexpected move to America had taken a huge toll on the team, some more than others.

Lately, Oishi fussed a lot more than was necessary. Yesterday when Momo had tripped running laps, Oishi had practically ordered Momo to go directly to the nurse and stay there for the rest of practise. Despite that Momoshiro only had a small cut on his hand.

Taka had become even more shy and reserved. Even when he was in his Burning Mode, he still lacked his usual fire when playing tennis. He never could keep up his energy levels anymore.

Inui had stopped taking data on his team members the past few days. Fuji didn't know whether that was a blessing or a curse. At least they didn't have him constantly collecting data on them anymore, but that also meant that their training programs would no longer be up to date anymore.

Kaidoh had become even more scary. When a freshman had accidentally knocked a tennis ball onto the court where Inui and him were playing a game, Kaidoh had turned and sent the freshman running for the hills. Of course, Fuji had been the only one how had been slightly amused by this event.

Momoshiro of course, had been unable to focus on his game at all since Echizen had left. This had naturally earned him a lot more laps than the rest of the team. The other day during morning practise when Momo had arrived late, Tezuka had asked him his reason and he had replied with- "I went to pick up Echizen. I forgot he was gone…"

Tezuka had been a lot more strict in practise lately. Their laps had practically doubled and were gradually increasing each day. Not only that, but if he even caught someone speaking about non-tennis related things, he assigned them to run until practise was over. This of course had whipped the team into shape, but it had also taken a toll on some members who were not used to the extensive training.

Lastly, since Ryoma had left, Eiji had undoubtedly been acting the worst. He now walked around in a constant state of gloom and depression. The once hyper active red-head now showed no enthusiasm whatsoever and walked around getting into fights.

The other day when one of Eiji's classmates had insulted their famous freshman Eiji had practically pounced on the stunned teenager. The principal had let him off with a warning, but threatened him with suspension the next time it happened. Fuji was seriously starting to worry about his best friend. Not even Oishi could snap Eiji out of it. It was like Eiji had given up hope.

Fuji was stunned by his teams reactions to their freshman's disappearance. He knew Echizen sudden move had been quite the shock for everyone- heck! His parents deaths had shocked them the most; Right after the Nationals too.

Fuji could only hope that his team snapped out of it soon. He, himself was also a bit depressed, but even though he missed the freshman, he wasn't going let it affect his tennis or get in the way of his school work.

A loud knock snapped him out of his daze. He looked up from where he was changing to see Momoshiro walk in and head straight to his locker, without speaking to anybody. The Junior had dark bags under his eyes and looked like he was still half asleep.

Oishi was the first to finish changing. He was about to head out to the courts, but stopped when his phone suddenly went off. He picked it up and glanced at it, curiosity clouding his eyes, before setting it back down.

"Hey," Oishi said, getting everyone's attention. " Tezuka says to wait in the change room, he says he has a surprise for all of us."

"A surprise?" Momo murmured.

Oishi nodded and sat down on the benches. When Fuji finished changing he sat down beside Oishi. _'Saa, I wonder what sort of surprise Tezuka has planned?'_ Fuji thought with a small smile on his face.

Soon everyone had finished changing and had either taken a seat on the benches or on the ground beside the benches. A tense silence enveloped the change room and Fuji couldn't help but hope Tezuka would get there soon. As if the god's were answering Fuji's prayer, Tezuka entered the change room.

"What's the surprise?" Oishi asked immediately and everyone looked up in anticipation.

"I got a letter," Tezuka replied.

Everyone seemed to visibly deflate, but Fuji continued listening with rapt attention. _'It couldn't be from Echizen. Could it? _Fuji thought with anticipation.

"We were invited to the U-17 camp in a week," Tezuka announced and this time Fuji also slumped against the wall, all the energy he had previously had, now gone.

"I also got another letter," Tezuka continued. "- from Echizen."

That got everyone's attention.

You could visibly see the change those two words had on everyone in the room. Everyone was no longer slouching, but sat straight, eyes all fixed intensely on Tezuka; Waiting for him to continue. Even Eiji seemed interested and Fuji could see a small spark re-ignite in his best-friend's eyes.

"Tezuka, there is a 100% chance that if you don't start reading the letter, you're going to have an angry mob of tennis regulars on you in about 10 seconds." Inui stated matter-of-factly.

Tezuka nodded and began reading.

"_September 7, Friday,_"

Tezuka was interrupted by Momo who yelled. "Friday? He must have sent this yesterday. Who knew mail got delivered so quickly?"

"There's a time difference. Where Echizen probably sent it Saturday morning in Tulsa, we would have been sleeping, because it would have been Friday night here. Then when he was sleeping on Saturday night there, it would have been Saturday here. Then last night well we were sleeping was Sunday for him, but Saturday night for us. Since today is Sunday, it would already be Sunday night there. We are always a day behind them, so it would seem like the mail is extremely fast, it may seem like it only took 24 hours, but if you compare his time to our time, it would really have taken about 36 hours."

"What? Did anyone else get that? Anyone?" Momoshiro asked confused,and let's just say he wasn't the only who looked confused. Inui wasn't given a chance to explain though, because Tezuka continued reading.

"_Dear Sempai-Tachi, _

_It's been a day since I've arrived in Tulsa Oklahoma. I wish I could say it isn't much different from Japan, but it's horribly different. Absolutely nobody in this backwater town plays tennis and the ones that do absolutely suck. Tulsa also seems very behind on the new technology around. I have yet to see somebody use an iPod or cellphone._"

Fuji couldn't help but chuckle a bit. Of course Echizen would be complaining that he didn't have any good tennis opponents there.

"_I'm living with some friends of my cousin's. Dally doesn't have a house and usually just bums around. _"

Oishi frowned. Why on Earth would the state leave a 12-year-old kid with an 18 year-old who didn't even own a house and just _'bummed' _around?

"_My cousin is friends with this one group of guys that are apparently all part of their own little gang. That's another thing; you see a lot of small gangs down here."_

This time it was Tezuka's turn to frown. Ryoma had better not be getting involved with any gangs.

"_The guys my cousin hangs out with are decent, or at least so far they are. There's Two-Bit who apparently likes Mickey Mouse. Then there's Steve who really needs anger management, or at least that's what I think. He's best friends with one of the guy's I'm living with and he's called Sodapop. Yes that's his real name. He also has a younger brother called Ponyboy. Their older brother Darrel, who takes care of them, got lucky when his parents named him. Then there's Johnny, don't know much about him- he's really shy."_

'_Huh,'_ Everyone thought.

Ryoma seemed to have gotten himself a weird group of friends. Well, then again, they really shouldn't be talking. All though none of them would admit it, they were also quite weird. One of them was a stalker and mad scientist, one was a sadist, one was a mother hen, one changed personalities as quick as the weather, one was a constant ball of sugar, one was a snake, one was a loud-broom head who constantly tries to pick up girls and fails, and one was a guy who had probably never smiled in public before. At least before the Nationals that is.

"_Apparently there's this thing between the East side and West side of town. The East side is where all the kid's with not so much money live. They're called Greasers. The West side is where all the rich kids live and their called Socs. So Greasers and Socs apparently hate each other. Socs like to jump Greasers and so forth. I'm living on the East side so I just hope I don't get dragged into anything stupid."_

Tezuka nodded in approval. Ryoma was smart when he said he was trying to stay out of all that trouble.

Fuji shook his head in exasperation. _'I guess no matter where you go there will always be discrimination in social classes huh?'_ He thought with contempt.

"_Lastly I never thought I would say this, but I kind of miss Eiji-Sempai's hugs,"_

Eiji froze and had to stop himself from crying right there. Ochibi really missed his hugs?

" _Momo-Sempai giving me a ride to school every morning,"_

Momo nodded, that was one of his favourite times of day.

"_Taka-sempai and his burning mode,"_

Taka let out a sigh of relief, It was good to know Echizen hadn't forgotten about him.

"_Oishi-Sempai fussing over me,"_

Oishi smiled at the freshman's words.

"_Fuji-Sempai blackmailing everybody,"_

Everyone looked at Fuji who was smiling creepily and wondered why the hell Echizen would miss that part of the tensai.

"_Tezuka-Buchou assigning me laps and telling me 'Not to let my guard down',"_

Tezuka inwardly smiled, but kept his calm façade. He really did care about the freshman. Echizen had been like the younger brother he never had.

"_Kaidoh-Sempai pushing me to do my best, "_

Kaidoh couldn't help the blush that covered his cheeks. He hadn't known that Echizen thought so highly of him.

"_and even Inui-Sempai and his crazy juices."_

Everyone shuddered and again wondered why the hell Echizen would miss that part of Inui?

"_Anyway, I want you all to know that you better not be slacking off because I'm not there and you better keep practising, because next time we meet I will be better than before and I'll challenge you all to a match."_

Fuji looked over at Eiji and smiled when he saw the fire that he been distinguished since Echizen left, now back and burning brighter than before. Fuji looked around at everyone else to see them also smiling. Well everyone except Tezuka.

"_So I guess all I got left to say is…._

_Mada Mada Dane Sempai-Tachi._

_Sincerely,_

_Echizen Ryoma_

_P.S. Karupin misses you. "_

"Saa… that was entertaining, ne?" Fuji asked, his usually present smile gleaming brighter than ever on his face.

Tezuka nodded. "Alright everyone…25 laps around the courts!"

"NANI!" Eiji and Momo yelled in protest.

"And the last one has to drink Inui Juice," Tezuka added. Before Fuji could blink everyone was out the doors and running full blast towards the courts.

"I guess I should hurry ne?" Fuji murmured to Tezuka before bolting out the door himself.

Once everyone was gone Tezuka let a small smile draw across his face. If he could he would thank Echizen at the moment. He had been aware that the team had fallen into a constant state of depression and the letter had been exactly what the team needed to get their morals up again.

He stepped outside to see everyone running hurriedly, determined not to end up last and be the one to end up drinking Inui Juice.

"Don't let your guard down!" He shouted and continued to watch his team practise with more passion than ever before. They were finally back to their normal selves again. Well, at least as normal as they would ever be.

* * *

**A/N**

**Okay, so as for my fun little story. As most of you know, I went camping this weekend, and if you didn't. You know now :P **

**Anyway, So I was driving around with my Grandpa's friends who were, by the way, all adults and drinking their buts off. LoL. Anyway, again, we were going to check out my Grandpa's new lot that he had bought at Duck Lake in Montana. I live in Canada by the way. It was dark and it looked so creepy. And we were all talking about how it was the bad side of the lake and thise one guy, Mike, was all like.**

**"Yeah, we're heading over to the Greaser side of town, Later we'll go beat up some Socs!" **

**Right out of nowhere. He completely made my weekend LoL. Then he was like. **

**"Stay Gold Ponyboy, Stay Gold!" **

**I have never actually met another person who read the outsiders, but he made my night. **

**Sooo, now that you're done reading my little story. **

**Please Review! :P**


	11. Of Thoughts and Assumptions

**Sooo, here's the next chapter :) Dont have internet anymore, but to make it up to you I'll update twice now.**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN THE OUTSIDERS OR PRINCE OF TENNIS :)**

**Chapter 11**

_**Of Thoughts and Assumptions**_

* * *

It had been exactly a week since the incident at Angela Shepards house. Ponyboy still remembered it as clearly as if it had happened yesterday. Needless to say, Tim had been absolutely livid when he had found out. It had taken all of Curly Shepards persuasive skills to talk Tim out of beating the snot out of Dally's cousin. Yes. Curly Shepard, had, for some reason, stopped Tim Shepard from beating up the person that had slapped their younger sister. This still puzzled Ponyboy beyond belief. He had known Curly for as long as he could remember, and not once had Ponyboy ever beleived him to be the forgiving type.

The entire gang had been surprised when they had rushed home to see Ryoma free of any marks whatsoever. They had thought for sure, that when Curly had chased after Ryoma, he had had the intention of beating the snot out of him. Apparently not though. Ryoma was still as fine and as healthy as could be.

The gang had tried to question the kid. They had asked him all night about what was so important about his cap, and how it wasn't okay to hit girls, no matter how obnoxious they may be. Finally, Darry seemed to take pity on the kid and had told everyone to lay off.

It had taken one extremely long week, but the gang had finally gotten used to Ryoma's presence around the house. Of course, Ryoma still refused to talk about his parents, or even about Japan in general, but the Gang didn't really mind. They were convinced that Ryoma would tell them when he was ready.

Most of the time the kid just kept to himself, except for a couple snide remarks here and there. Steve had even called Ryoma a bigger brat than Ponyboy. This had not only surprised Ponyboy, but also Two-Bit who was with them at the time. For his entire life Ponyboy could remember Steve telling him that if he ever met a bigger brat than Ponyboy, than they had the right to pinch him to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Of course, when Ponyboy had brought that up, Steve had cuffed him upside the head and to be frank, it had hurt like a B****.

Ponyboy sighed from his side of the bed he shared with Sodapop. Ryoma was still a complete mystery. No matter what he tried, Ponyboy could not figure the kid out. He had tried to make conversations with the 12-year-old, but had found out pretty quickly, that Ryoma was not the talkative type.

One thing he had noticed, was that everyday Ryoma checked the mailbox. Ponyboy had already guessed he was waiting for a reply, from whoever he had sent that letter too, a week ago. They could cross out family, his parents were dead and Dally was the only living family the kid had. Mabey he was sending letters to some of his friends? The only thing was, it was hard to imagine the type of kid Ryoma was, making much friends, but he couldn't cross it off the list just yet. Afterall, only time would tell.

School had been going smoothly. He had been surprised to see that Ryoma got straight A's on practically everything. Not to mention the fact that he slept through almost half his class every day. At first the teachers had gotten frustrated, but after Ryoma had very calmly answered all the questions they threw at him, correctly mind you, they had eventually given up. Ponyboy had a feeling though, that if Ryoma's marks ever dropped, the teachers would be on him like a hawk.

The most puzzling thing Ponyboy noticed about Ryoma, was his obsession with tennis. He brought his tennis bag with him everywhere he went. Not to mention that Ryoma would often disappear with his tennis things in the evening for two or three hours and come back late at night, panting heavily and drenched in sweat. Ponyboy couldn't understand what drove him so hard; What caused him to have such an obssesion with mastering a simple sport. Of course, Ponyboy liked track, but he didn't spend every waking moment practising it, or thinking about it.

"Soda?" Ponyboy whispered, careful not to be too loud incase he woke Darry or Ryoma in the rooms beside his. "You awake?"

"M' now," Soda murmured.

"What do you think 'bout Ryoma?" Ponyboy glanced at his brother, who turned around in bed to face him.

"Ryoma?" Soda questioned and when Ponyboy nodded, he gained a thoughtful look in his eyes. "I think he's a troubled kid, who's goin' through a lot right now and doesn't know how to deal with it all," Soda closed his eyes. "I also think that you, need to stop thinkin' and go to bed."

Soda turned around, whispering a soft 'Good Night', leaving Ponyboy alone with his thoughts. Ponyboy doubted he would ever understand Dally's cousin, but for now, all he could do was try.

* * *

**A/N**

**So how did you like it? Sorry to all my readers, but I have no internet anymore so updates wont be often, but to make it up to you I'll update twice right now! *Looks over next chapter* Dear god, where did that come from!? Oh well, you'll have to wait a few days for Chapter 13, even though I am DONE it *Insert evil laugh***

**So please review :)**


	12. Pepsi's, Cars, and Footballs

**Umm, read the bottom for any notes. I'm kind of in a rush right now. All will be explained.**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN PRINCE OF TENNIS OR THE OUTSIDERS!**

**Chapter 12**

_**Pepsi's, Cars and Footballs**_

* * *

**Previously**

_"Soda?" Ponyboy whispered. "You awake?"_

_"M' now," Soda murmured. _

_"What do you think 'bout Ryoma?" Ponyboy glanced at his brother, who turned around in bed to face him._

_"Ryoma?" Soda questioned and when Ponyboy nodded, he gained a thoughtful look in his eyes. "I think he's a troubled kid, who's goin' through a lot right now and doesn't know how to deal with it all," Soda closed his eyes. "I also think that you, need to stop thinkin' and go to bed."_

_Soda turned around, whispering a soft 'Good Night', leaving Ponyboy alone with his thoughts. Ponyboy doubted he would ever understand Dally's cousin, but for now, all he could do was try._

* * *

**Currently**

**(*Ponyboy's POV*)**

I threw on my jacket and running shoes, before casting my gaze over to Ryoma who was lounging on the couch. "You sure you don't want to come?" I asked.

"Yes."

His answer didn't surprise me. Whenever he was watching tennis, he became as stubborn as a mule; refusing to move or go anywhere until the show ended. Shrugging I opened the screen door. "Okay, I"ll be at the DX if you need anything."

When he only nodded, I took that as my cue to leave. It was an early Saturday afternoon, being no later than 3:00 o'clock. I didn't usually like to go down to the DX station on weekends, mainly because there was always a bunch of girls flirting with Soda, but at the moment I was dying for a Coke. Plus, mabey if I was lucky, Steve would let me help him work on a few cars.

Finally, after a good 15 minute walk, I reached the DX station. I was surprised to see no girls around when I entered. Usually they would flock in and out of the store.

"Hey Pone, what can I do for ya?" Soda asked, from where he was lounging behind the counter.

"A Coke would be nice." Before I even had time to get my change, Soda had already paid for and tossed me a coke.

"This one's on me," He stated. That's another thing I liked about coming here; Sometimes, if Soda was in a good mood, he'd buy me a pop or two. "So where's the kid?"

I shrugged. "Watching tennis, you know, the usual."

Soda nodded, closing his eyes and leaning forward on the counter. "Steve and I don't get off till seven, why don't you go see if Steve needs any help in the back?"

"Okay," I ducked under the counter and made my way towards the back. Now it was time to go bug, I mean ask Steve until he lets me help him.

* * *

**(*Ryoma's POV*)**

Ryoma shut the T.V off as the program ended. It had been about two and a half hours since Ponyboy had gone down to the DX station. Leaning back on the couch, a loud sigh escaped his mouth. Why was Tulsa so boring? If only there were some street courts in this town, than mabey he would at least have something to do.

Most of the time, he would just go practise tennis behind the school, but even that became tiring after a while. Don't get him wrong, he had nothing against the gang, but he just found them boring. All they did was play poker, hang out at the DX, and play football.

"Mabey I'll down to the DX after all," He muttered. At least if he was there, he could annoy, umm I mean, chat with Steve and Soda. It would at least be better than sitting here for the next two hours, until they got off work.

Jumping off the couch, he threw on a plain, black sweater over his T-shirt. It was fairly warm outside today, so he doubted he would need a jacket. When he slipped on his shoes, he headed outside.

_I guess I should check the mail too._

Ever since he had sent that letter to the Regulars, he had checked the mail every day. He knew it was only a matter of time before they replied.

He opened the mailbox and couldn't suppress the small smile that spread over his face when he found 8 envelopes, all addressed to him. Stuffing them in his pocket, he made his way down the block; he would read them later that night, before he went to bed. This of course was a safety precaution against any noisy 18 year olds. _Cough/Two-Bit/Couch._

As he reached the end of the block, he was surprised to see Johnny at far end of the lot. Ryoma couldn't help but notice that he seemed to be looking for something. Taking a de-tour through the grass, he approached Johnny from behind and tapped lightly on his shoulder. He was unprepared for when Johnny practically leapt out of his skin, quickly spinning around only to realise it was only Ryoma, and relax again.

"It's only you," Johnny whispered quietly, more to himself than to Ryoma.

"Mada mada dane," Ryoma smirked. Out of the entire Curtis gang, Ryoma found Johnny to be the most interesting. He was a lot more shy than the rest, not to mention jumpier. Also, like Ryoma, he didn't talk much. The gang often called him 'Johnnycake', but Ryoma would never understand why; the nickname sounded like it was meant for a two-year old.

One of the things Ryoma had noticed, was that Johnny never seemed to want to go home. Ryoma had never asked Johnny about this, but one day, when Johnny had come over with a few new bruises on his arms, Ryoma was sure he could guess why.

Ryoma liked Johnny though, if not only because Johnny never questioned him about his parents, or Japan, like the rest of the gang did.

"What are you doing here by yourself?" Ryoma asked, eyes curiously scanning Johnny, who was finally getting some colour back in his face.

Johnny shrugged, standing up and brushing some dirt off his jeans. "Just looking for the football, so I can practise a few kicks."

"Want any help?" When Johnny shook his head, Ryoma took a seat on the far side of the lot, leaning against one of the oak trees. After about a half an hour of watching Johnny scour the abandoned lot, he stood up.

"Are you sure you don't want any help?" Ryoma questioned walking over to Johnny. Johnny stood up, turning around to look at Ryoma and froze in his tracks. Ryoma could only watch as his face turned as white as a sheet.

"What.." Ryoma turned around to see what had scared Johnny so much, only to freeze too. Piling out of a blue Mustang were four guys; four Socs.

"Run."

Was all Johnny said before Ryoma was sprinting across the lot, Johnny right beside him.

* * *

A/N

Cliffhanger! Does anybody recognize this part that was briefly mentioned in the book? :) I hope so.

Anyway, My internet is currently gone. So im at the laundry mat, but can only stay for about 30-45 minutes a day before they realise I'm not doing laundry and kick me out for loitering. Apparently to use th internet here, you must be doing laundry. Selfish bastards.

I have chapter 13 done, and will update soon.

Sorry for any mistakes you found in these two chapters. I will fix them when I'm not in a really bad rush.

Please review and tell me what you think. Is this story moving to fast? To slow?

Review :)

I'm cruel, aren't I.


	13. Cuts and Bruises

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN THE OUTSIDERS OR PRINCE OF TENNIS.**

**Chapter 13**

_**Cuts and Bruises**_

* * *

**Previously**

_"What.." Ryoma turned around to see what had scared Johnny so much, only to freeze too. Piling out of a blue Mustang were four guys; four Socs. _

_"Run." _

_Was all Johnny murmured before Ryoma was sprinting across the lot, Johnny right beside him._

* * *

**Currently**

**(*Ponyboy POV*)**

I drew my jacket closer around me as Steve, Soda and I walked down the sidewalk. For some reason, Steve had decided to leave his car at the station, which meant we had to walk home. Not to mention the fact that it was already dark outside, and the wind cut through you like ice, making it quite chilly.

I took another sip of my Pepsi, in a desperate attempt to warm myself up. Beside me Steve and Soda were chatting about where they should take Sandy and Evie on their next double date. I faked the gagging motion behind their backs. I don't care too much for girls, but Soda says I'll grow out of it.

A small, round pebble came into my view. Unable to resist the urge to kick it, I sent it rolling forward, until it came to a stop against something in the middle of the sidewalk. We all froze in front of it, until Steve picked it up, examining it.

"Look's like Johnny forgot his jacket," Steve said, slinging it over his shoulder, probably meaning to take it by Johnny's house.

I frowned, wondering why Johnny of all people would forget his jacket. He knew as well as the rest of us that nice jackets were expensive, and money was the one thing that Greasers had very limited amounts of.

Steve, who was examining the jacket, suddenly stopped, his face going pale. I moved closer to see what he was staring at and noticed there was a stain the color of rust on the jackets collar. Steve's eyes immediately flew to the ground, Even in the dark, we could still see there were more stains on the grass.

immediately a stricken look crossed Steve's face as he looked across the field. A loud moan came from across the field and I think we all saw the motionless lump at the same time. In the blink of an eye we were sprinting to the other side of the lot.

Soda was the first person to reach him, but Steve and I followed a second later. Soda who had sunk to his knees, and was carefully turning Johnny over onto his back. I think I just about threw up the contents of my stomach; Someone had beaten him badly. Beside me, I could see that Steve also looked like he was going to be sick.

Even though we were used to seeing Johnny clobbered up, nothing could have prepared us for what we saw now. Those beatings were nothing like this. Johnny's face was littered with multiple dark, ugly bruises; large, angry, red cuts also covered his swollen face. The thing that immediately drew my eyes was the ragged, wide gash from his temple to his cheekbone.

Forcing myself to keep my eyes open, I lowered my gaze. His white T-shirt was splattered with blood. For a brief second I thought he might actually be dead. My best friend might be dead; surely nobody could be beaten like that and live.

Steve muffled a low groan as he dropped to his knees beside Soda. I couldn't move, frozen with utter shock. Who had done this to Johnny? Why would anyone want to do this to Johnny? What had he ever done to them!?

Somehow the rest of the gang had sensed what had happened, because before I knew it, Two-Bit was standing beside me; His comical grin that was usually plastered across his face, was now gone and his dancing grey eyes were now dark and stormy. "Johnny.." I head him whisper under his breath.

Darry must have seen us from the front porch of our house, because he was suddenly skidding to a halt beside Two-Bit, his eyes wide and his mouth gaping open in shock. Dally was there too, swearing under his breath, and turning away with a sick expression on his face. I couldn't hear exactly what he was saying, but I know, just from the tone of his voice, that it promised pain to whoever had done this.

"Johnny," Soda whispered softly, giving the body a soft shake. When Johnny didn't say anything, Soda repeated himself. "Johnnycake?"

Johnny didn't open his eyes, but everyone could hear him as he managed to groan out a simple question."Soda?" He asked, and I couldn't help but notice how hoarse his voice sounded.

"Yes, it's me," Soda replied, comfortingly running his hands through Johnny's bloodied hair. "Don't talk Johnnycake. You're going to be okay."

Johnny continued, ignoring Soda's command. "There was a bunch of them." Johnny gasped out, and I could tell he was holding back tears. "A blue Mustang full...I got so scared.."

I could hear him trying to swear under his breath, but he was suddenly overcome by racking sobs that shook his body. He tried to control himself, but that only caused him to sob harder when he couldn't. Just hearing Johnny cry, made me want to cry with him. The gang had seen him take a whipping from his old man, but not once had they seen him bawl like a baby. It just made it worse to see him break now. Around me I could see the rest of the gang looking at Johnny with looks of pity, anger and grief.

"Sshh, It's going to be okay now Johnnycake," Soda whispered, pushing Johnny's hair out of his face. "Their gone, they can't hurt you anymore." But Johnny only shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut and clenching his hands into fists.

"I couldn't do anything," He sobbed, body shaking. "I couldn't stop them...I tried to run, but they jumped us."

"What are you talking about Johnnycake?" Soda murmured softly. "It's only you here. There's no one else."

Johnny shook his head again, sobbing harder. "Ry..Ryoma..w..was..here. They grabbed him and...and."

I froze, my eyes widened with shock. No. It couldn't be. I looked over towards Dally to see he was also frozen, eyes slowly widening in realisation.

"It's going to be okay Johnnycake." Soda tried to console the sobbing teen. "They can't hurt you anymore. We need you to calm down and tell us what they did with Dal's cousin."

Johnny nodded and between sobs, he managed to gasp out his story. He had been hunting for our football to practise a few kicks on, when Ryoma had shown up and offered to help. Later a blue Mustang had pulled up beside the lot. There had been four Socs in it. He and Ryoma had tried to run, but they had easily caught them. Two of them had dragged Ryoma over to the trees and two of them had ganged up on him. One was wearing rings; that was what had cut him up so badly.

The minute Johnny had told them where they had taken Ryoma, Dally and Darry where sprinting over to the trees, looks of horror on both their faces.

Ponyboy shook with anger. Not once did he think he had ever hated a Soc more than right now. It was bad enough that the Socs had outnumbered Ryoma and Johnny, but to beat up a 12 year-old was just cruel.

Johnny finished his story and continued sobbing against Soda. I knew it wasn't just that they had beaten him half to death- they had scared him. They had threatened him with everything under the sun. That was what angered Ponyboy.

"We should get him to our house," Soda spoke up. "Darry has that first aid kit."

I nodded, Soda was right. Johnny needed to be bandaged up and he needed to be bandaged _now._

* * *

Dally sprinted full speed to the edge of the trees at the far side of the lot. Darry was right on his heels. It didn't take them long to find the unconscious form of Ryoma, propped up against a tree.

Dally halted in his tracks and had to stop himself from emptying out the contents of his stomach. If he had thought Johnny had been bad, he was sure Ryoma looked worse. Every inch of visible skin was covered in dark purple bruises that were swelled up. Blood soaked through his white T-shirt that was ripped in multiple places and a large cut reached from his side to his collarbone.

Darry, who noticed Dally had stopped, quickly rushed forward. He knelt beside the unconscious teen and gently shook him, trying to get some response. When Ryoma didn't move at all, Darry checked for a pulse. He let out a sigh of relief when he found one; it was low, but it was there.

"Dally, lift him onto my back." Darry commanded, snapping Dallas out of his daze. Dally nodded and gingerly lifted the kid onto Darry's back, making sure to be gentle.

"Okay, lets hurry. I doubt he's in any life threatening danger, but who knows what those Socs did to him." Darry muttered.

Dally nodded, and after grabbing the black sweater that had lain beside Ryoma, they quickly made their way back towards the Curtis household.

* * *

A/N

Hey, so anyway, this had to be my most updated, and longest story I've had. It's just so easy to write for. Also, I have exams in 2 weeks, so I'll need to start cracking open the textbooks. I'll try to update soon, but don't count on an update for at least 2 weeks.

If you like it, please review!


	14. Tears of Sorrow and Joy

**So here's an update. Not much time for authors note; sister wants the computer .**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN PRINCE OF TENNIS OR THE OUTSIDERS**

**Chapter 14**

**Tears of Sorrow and Joy**

* * *

**Previously**

_Steve, who was examining the jacket, suddenly stopped, his face going pale. I moved closer to see what he was staring at and noticed there was a stain the color of rust of the jackets collar._

_Even though we were used to seeing Johnny clobbered up, nothing could have prepared us for what we saw now. Johnny's face was littered with multiple dark, ugly bruises; large, angry, red cuts also covered his swollen face._

_"Sshh, It's going to be okay now Johnnycake," Soda whispered, pushing Johnny's hair out of his face. "Their gone, they can't hurt you anymore." _

* * *

**Currently**

_"Are you sure you don't want any help?" Ryoma questioned walking over to Johnny. Johnny stood up and turned around to look at Ryoma, only to freeze in his tracks. Ryoma could only watch as his face turned as white as a sheet._

_"What.." Ryoma spun around to see what had scared Johnny so much, only to freeze too. Piling out of a blue Mustang were four guys; four Socs. _

_"Run." _

_Was all Johnny said before Ryoma was sprinting full speed across the lot. Johnny ran right beside him. Loud shouts and hurried footsteps could be heard behind them. Ryoma didn't need to turn around to know the Socs were following them, nor did he dare to._

_Despite being a cocky prick most of the time (Yes, he admits he sometimes does it on purpose), he had never gotten into an actual fist fight, nor had he ever been jumped before. And at the moment, he wasn't really itching to break that record; he had seen enough movies to know that being jumped was most definitely not on his bucket list._

_They had made it about halfway across the lot when the Socs caught up to them. Ryoma let out a loud gasp as he was tackled into the cold, dirt ground. In a flash a Soc was on top of him, pinning his arms being his back and placing a hand over his mouth, mostly likely to stop him from calling for help._

_Ryoma began to struggle, twisting and turning under the Soc. Despite his efforts though, Ryoma was unable to throw the Soc off of himself. A few feet away from him, Ryoma could see Johnny struggling, desperately trying to escape as two Socs grabbed him from behind. _

_Suddenly Ryoma was being flipped around onto his back, and the Soc on top of him was landing a few punches to his face. God, that hurt a lot more than he thought it would. Soon the punches stopped and Ryoma lay on the ground gasping in air. Already, Ryoma could feel his cheek swelling. He had quit struggling, knowing it to be futile._

_"Hey, isn't this the newest Winston in town?" Came a gruff voice. Ryoma looked up to see one of the Soc's that had grabbed him, staring down at him with a smirk on his face. _

_"Aren't we some lucky bastards!" One of the Soc's that had ganged up on Johnny laughed. Judging from how he carried himself, he was definitely the leader of the group. Ryoma watched as he came closer until he was kneeling right next to his face._

_The Soc reached out, grasping Ryoma's face in his hand and moving it from side to side, trying to get a better look at the 12 year old. The cool metal of the rings that adorned the Soc's hand, caused Ryoma to shiver involuntarily. The Soc laughed "Where's your cousin now huh?" _

_Glaring up at the older boy, Ryoma frowned, turning his head to the side, ripping his face out of the Soc's grip. _

_"Fuck you!" He said, spitting straight in the Soc's face. The Soc frowned, using his jacket to wipe his face before turning to stare at him with narrowed eyes. _

_"Feisty little brat," The Soc murmured. It was so unexpected, that Ryoma let out a started cry as he was roughly backhanded across the face, sharp rings digging into his cheek. "Maybe that will teach you to be a little more obedient."_

_When Ryoma glared and the Soc only smirked right back at him. "You two can take this one. We'll take the one over there." Ryoma looked over to Johnny who was looking at the spectacle with a look of horror on his face, his face pale and his eyes getting wider by the second._

_The next thing he knew, the hand was back on his mouth and he was being lifted up and dragged over towards the trees. A sudden bone chilling fear gripped him and the reality of the situation hit him. He once again began struggling, twisting and turning and trying everything he could to get out of the guy's grip. _

_Behind him he could hear Johnny shouting. Spinning his head around, he locked eyes with the 16-year-old for a split second before the trees eventually blocked his view of the him. Ryoma tried to shout, tried to call for help, but the hand on his mouth prevented him from saying anything. _

_Already Ryoma could hear Johnny's pain filled cries. Involuntarily, he began to shiver. What would the Soc's do to him? This was the only thought the echoed threw his mind as he was thrown on the ground. _

_In the next second both Socs were on him; punching and kicking him everywhere they could think of. Ryoma brought his hands up to cover his face, as he tried to shut out Johnny's cries mixed with his own. Waves of pain hit him like he had never experienced and he tried to block it all out, to ignore it._

_Suddenly the one guy had a pocket knife and was bring it down on his side, which instantly brought him back to reality. Ryoma let out an ear-piercing scream as the guy dug the knife right underneath his collarbone, and ran it diagonally across his chest, until the Soc reached his side. _

_Ryoma lay there gasping as the guy withdrew the knife, once again causing a torrent of pain to rack his body. The punches and kicks continued and before Ryoma could stop it, a particularly hard kick landed on the back of his head, causing his vision to blue and the world around him to fade into black. _

**...**

Ryoma bolted up with a cry. His eyes were wide with fear and he was shaking uncontrollably. Unthinkingly, tears gathered in his eyes, blurring his vision. He was unprepared as a wave of pain finally hit him, causing him to fall back with a soft grunt, closing his eyes as he waited for the pain to pass.

_Where am I? Why does it feel like I got hit by a truck?_

Finally he remembered that he and Johnny had been jumped. His eyes sprung open and he slowly lifted himself up into a sitting position, this time being careful not to cause his limbs any stress. It took him a second to realise he was no longer on the hard ground of the lot, but was now safely back in his room at the Curtis's.

Ryoma wiped away the tears that had previously gathered in his eyes, but for some reason could not help it as he began to tremble slightly. He allowed himself to lay back down. Casting his gaze up to the roof, he shook his head.

_Come on! Ryoma Echizen isn't scared of a little beating! Imagine what people would think if they saw you crying after just being tossed around a bit! They'd think you're weak, pathetic. You don't want that, do you?_

The inner voice in his head caused Ryoma to frown. Of course he didn't want people to think he was weak. He had spent so much time building up that wall around his innermost emotions and only a few rare times in his life had he let his façade fall. It would be a waste of half his life, if he let that wall fall now; if he let people know he was nothing more than a frightened, 12-year-old.

"They're gone now, they can't hurt you anymore," Ryoma whispered to himself, and after a few minutes of steady breathing, finally managed to stop his body from shaking.

Pulling himself up into a sitting position, he swung his legs off the bed and gingerly stood up. He ignored the fresh wave of pain that passed through him and carefully began to walk over towards the mirror on the far side of the room. Twice he had to stop as he became dizzy, almost causing him to fall over. Finally, after much more effort than he should have needed, he reached the mirror.

Keeping his eyes downcast, he refused to look up. To be truthfully honest, he was a bit scared of what he might see. Just exactly how bad did they beat him? Was he now beyond recognition? Or was it not as bad as he thought?

Gathering up all the courage he could muster, Ryoma lifted his head and froze. His eyes narrowed and his breath hitched. He even had to stop himself from looking away. It wasn't as bad as he had thought, but it was still unpleasant to look at.

Multiple dark purple, black and yellow bruises covered his face and extended to his arms and his chest, which was also wrapped up in white bandages. Angry red cuts of various sizes littered his face and arms. Of course none of the cuts looked deep enough to cause scarring. They were mostly shallow and small, but there were quite a few of them.

Images of the Soc holding a knife flashed through Ryoma's mind, causing a shiver to run up his spine. Pushing the thoughts of the Soc to the back of his mind, he forced himself to concentrate on other things; anything besides the jumping.

_I wonder where the rest of the gang is?_ The house seemed eerily quiet; Which was something he wasn't used to. Looking around the room for something to wear, he threw on a plain, black T-shirt to match the black sweatpants he was wearing.

Thoughts of Johnny flew though his mind as he made his way out of the room. He began to wonder what had happened to the older boy. Was Johnny hurt as bad as himself? Or maybe Johnny had managed to get away? These were the thoughts that motivated him to face the Gang downstairs.

* * *

Silence. It echoed around the house, suffocating everything in its grasp. For three days on end it had clouded the house, suffocating everything and anything. For Ponyboy it was one of the worst things he had ever expieirenced, besides his parent's deaths of course. For the silence held within it a deep sorrow, unmeasured anxiousness and uncontrollable anger.

The silence was a reminder of the events that had transpired three days before. One's of which Ponyboy would rather forget. But that of course, was impossible. It seemed like the harder he tried to forget the more he remembered.

The gang sat around him. Ponyboy could practically feel the torment and distress rolling off everyone, clouding the already uncomfortable atmosphere like a plague. He knew that some members of the Gang, like Steve and Dallas, were still seething, and that it was taking all their self-control not to go and jump the first Soc they saw.

Ponyboy didn't blame them. When Darry and Dally had brought Ryoma through the front doors and the gang had gotten a look at the beat up 12-year-old, they had been furious. Of course, they had been angry when they had saw Johnny, but seeing Ryoma brought them over the edge.

Ponyboy shivered as he remembered how livid Dallas had been. It had taken Two-Bit, Steve and Soda to stop him from running off and beating the snot out of every Soc, until he found out who exactly had done this to his cousin and Johnny.

Immediately after they had gotten Dally to calm down, Darry had rushed the injured two to the hospital. For 3 hours the Gang had waited in the waiting room; anxiously checking the clock every 5 minutes.

Finally though, the doctor had rushed into the waiting room and had told Dally (He was Ryoma's legal guardian) about the conditions both Ryoma and Johnny were in.

Along with major bruising and a large cut on the side of his face, which the doctor said would leave a scar, Johnny was 'lucky' enough to only have a broken wrist and little internal bleeding. The Doctor had said they had found the source of the bleeding and fixed the problem before any major damage could be done.

Ryoma on the other hand, didn't get off so easy. Besides the major bruising that covered his body, he also acquired a large cut that was expected to leave a horrible scar across his chest. The thing that worried everyone the most, was that the kid had received a fair amount of blunt trauma to the head. The doctor had told Dallas, that until the kid woke up, there was really nothing he could do. He had reassured everyone though, that it wasn't actually as bad as it looked.

So for three days the gang had sat around the house, waiting for Ryoma to wake up. Johnny, after acquiring a cast for his wrist, was allowed to leave the Hospital. Despite the Gang's reassurance that he didn't have to and should probably be home resting, Johnny stayed with them the entire three days. He was as anxious as the rest of them, if not more, to see how Ryoma would react when he awoke.

Ponyboy leaned against the coffee table from where he sat on the floor. Sparing a glance towards Dallas, he could tell the 18-year-old was just as livid as he was three days ago. Ponyboy wondered what was going through the blondes mind. He never could tell what Dallas was thinking.

"Damn it! Damn it all to hell!" Dallas suddenly shouted, causing Ponyboy and the rest of the gang to jump in surprise at the sudden outburst. Ponyboy watched as Dallas got up and began pacing the living room, letting out a troubled sigh. No one dared to comment on his behaviour.

Looking towards where Dallas had previously sat down in the armchair, he noticed the sweater Ryoma had been wearing when he had got jumped, was strewn across the back of the chair; Dallas had not let it out of his sight since they had gotten back from the hospital. Taking a closer look, Ponyboy noticed something white falling out of one of the pockets.

He could feel everyone's eyes following him as he stood and made his way towards the armchair. Grasping the sweater in one hand, he reached into the pocket with his other and withdrew a pile of white envelopes; 8 to be exact.

His eyes widened in realisation. These must be from...

"Hey Pone, who're they from?" Soda questioned, breaking the silence.

Ponyboy shrugged. "The names are written in Japanese," He explained, eyeing them curiously. "Maybe they're from his friends?"

"Well let's open one and see!" Two-Bit's exclaimed excitedly, trying his best to lighten up the tense atmosphere. Everyone gathered around as Ponyboy grabbed the first letter on top of the pile and placed the rest down on the coffee table. He was halfway through opening it when a voice sounded behind them, causing him to drop the letter in surprise.

"What are you doing?"

Everyone spun around to see Ryoma standing at the bottom of the staircase, staring at them quizzically. All around him, shock was evident on everyone's faces. Dallas was the first one to snap out of his daze and rush forward. He stopped in front of the suspicious 12-year-old.

"Well?" Dallas said annoyed, waiting for Ryoma to say something.

"Well what?" Ryoma shot back, quizzically raising an eyebrow.

Ponyboy could tell Dallas was restraining himself from blowing up at the kid. "Well how are you feeling?"

"Fine," Ryoma replied gruffly. Ponyboy could tell by the large amount of bruising evident on the boy's face and arms, that he was most certainly not feeling 'fine'.

"Are you sure? You were out for three days," Dallas explained and for a split second Ponyboy could see Ryoma's eyes widen in surprise, before his calm façade was back in placed.

"I said I'm fine, can we please drop it?!" He snapped, and took a deep breath, before seemingly calming down. Ponyboy watched as Ryoma scanned the room until his eyes landed on Johnny. It was as if Ryoma's shoulders visibly relaxed seeing the 16-year-old was alive and breathing.

An awkward silence followed Ryoma outburst. Suddenly Ryoma's eyes narrowed. Ponyboy,followed his gaze to the envelopes on the table and froze.

"Were you reading my mail?" Ryoma questioned, voice filled with underlying venom. The gang shook their heads furiously, eyes downcast.

Ryoma stalked forward swiping the envelopes off the table. Ponyboy couldn't help but notice how Ryoma walked with a bit of limp in his step, obviously still in pain from the jumping three days ago.

Ryoma, ignored the stares he got from everyone as he stalked back to the stairs.

"Ryoma.." Dallas began, his voice said that he obviously wasn't going to put up with any of the 12-year-olds crap.

Ryoma ignored his cousin and continued up to the top of the stairs.

"Ryoma!" Dallas said, underlying warning in his voice.

Ryoma spun around, eyes narrowed furiously. "Leave me alone," He spat and Ponyboy flinched at the harshness in his voice. Ryoma disappeared around the corner, leaving the gang still in a state of worry for the 12-year-old's well-being.

* * *

Ryoma sat on his bed, legs crossed. He carefully picked up the first envelope and smiled.

_'To Ryoma_

_From Taka'_

He carefully opened the envelope.

_'Dear Echizen, _

_I hope you're enjoy Tulsa and making new friends. I hope you have a wonderful time there and can't wait until the next time we're able to see you again. Until then, I wish you the best of luck!_

_Sincerely Kawamura'_

Ryoma smiled, as he read Taka's letter. It seemed so like the power player; as if he was standing right there.

He opened the next letter.

_'Dear Echizen,_

_Glad to hear you're doing well. Hope you aren't slacking_

_Sincerely Kaidoh'_

Ryoma shook his head; Kaidoh was always a man of few quickly cut open the next letter.

_'Dear Echizen,_

_We received you're letter yesterday. I'm glad to hear you're doing well. Just to make sure you aren't slacking off I also sent you a special training plan just for you and a recipe for my new Inui juice. I hope you enjoy it._

_Sincerely Inui'_

That was so like Inui. Carefully he placed the letter back in the envelope and place it on his desk for safe keeping. Who knows, maybe Inui Juice would come in handy one of these days?

_'Dear Echizen_

_You better not be slacking off, you hear me! Just kidding, but seriously, when I see you again I want a rematch. This time I'll beat you! Anyway, you should have seen it around here, everyone was really depressed when you were gone. Since we got your letter though, everyone's been a bit happier. Did anyone tell you yet? We got invited to the U-17 Camp! Lucky! Until next time.._

_Sincerely Your Best Friend Momo'_

The U-17 Camp? That was pretty impressive! If only he was there for that.

_'Dear Ryo-Chan_

_Since you're in America it's okay to call you by your first name now, right? Saa I'm sure by now you've probably heard we've been invited to the U-17 Camp. You were invited to you know. Although, I doubt you'll be coming. Gangs huh? If anyone lays a hand on you, just tell me and I'll take care of it. _

_Anyway, my sister is giving me her old cell-phone. The team and I are planning to use it just to talk to you, We'll all pitch in a bit of money every month and take turns using it. The number on the back. Hope you're having a fun time._

_Sincerely Fuji'_

Ryoma felt a shiver run up his spine; Fuji-Sempai was so creepy sometimes.

_'Dear Ochibi_

_I can't wait until we see each other again. Everyone really, really misses you. It's so boring when you're not around. Next week we'll be going to the U-17 camp! Can you believe it!? Anyway, I hope you're having lots and lots of fun. _

_Sincerely Kikumaru Eiji_

_P.S. Fuji told you about the phone right? Don't forget to text us lots and lots!'_

Even in a letter Eiji-Sempai was still full of energy! Despite him shaking his head a smile found it's way on Ryoma's face.

_'Dear Echizen_

_Please try to stay out of trouble. It wouldn't do to injure yourself. Also remember to make smart choices! Don't get into anything you'll regret!_

_Sincerely Oishi'_

As always, Oishi was such a mother hen! Finally there was only one letter left. Ryoma picked it up off his bed and opened it.

_'Dear Echizen_

_I'm glad to hear you're doing well. The team was invited to the U-17 Camp, it's too bad you won't be able to make it. I am glad you're staying out of any trouble and have continued sharpening your skill. Remember there will always be a place for you if you ever come back._

_P.S Don't let your guard down!_

_Sincerely Tezuka Kunimitsu'_

Something wet dripped down onto the white paper of Tezuka's letter, which was held firmly in his hand. The one drop was soon followed by another and another. It didn't take long until Ryoma was silently crying over the paper.

Memories of all the fun times they had together flashed through his head. He had been so happy to hear from his team-mates. Yet, it was times like these that he wished more than ever, to be back with his team.

It was times like these that he missed his friends more than anything in the world.

* * *

A/N

Updated because I have L.A exam tommorrow and don't really need to study for reading comprehension. Sorry I didn't have time to read it over, But I promise I will fix all mistakes later.

Please review! :)


	15. Favours and the Furious

**A/N Sorry if this chapter was kind of all over the place. :P**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN PRINCE OF TENNIS OR THE OUTSIDERS**

**Chapter 15**

**Favours and the Furious**

* * *

**Previously on A New Life**

_..._

_Curly Shepard, huh? _

_Maybe this town does have some decent people after all._

...

_"Well?" Dallas said annoyed, waiting for Ryoma to say something._

_"Well what?" Ryoma shot back, quizzically raising an eyebrow._

_Ponyboy could tell Dallas was restraining himself from blowing up at the kid. "Well how are you feeling?"_

_"Fine," Ryoma replied gruffly. _

_"Are you sure? You were out for three days," Dallas explained and for a split second Ponyboy could see Ryoma's eyes widen in surprise, before his calm façade was back in placed._

_"I said I'm fine, can we please drop it?!" He snapped, and took a deep breath, before seemingly calming down. _

_Suddenly Ryoma's eyes narrowed. Ponyboy,followed his gaze to the envelopes on the table and froze._

_"Were you reading my mail?" _

...

_Ryoma!" Dallas said, underlying warning in his voice._

_Ryoma spun around, eyes narrowed furiously. "Leave me alone," He spat._

...

_Something wet dripped down onto the white paper of Tezuka's letter, which was held firmly in his hand. The one drop was soon followed by another and another. It didn't take long until Ryoma was silently crying over the paper._

_Memories of all the fun times they had together flashed through his head. He had been so happy to hear from his team-mates. Yet, it was times like these that he wished more than ever, to be back with his team._

_It was times like these that he missed his friends more than anything in the world._

* * *

**Currently**

It was a sunny day in Tulsa Oklahoma. On the East side of town, golden eyes narrowed as they scanned the rows of houses, searching for one house in particular.

It was currently Monday morning. The rest of the gang was either at school or work. Darry and Dallas had given their consent to allow Ryoma's to stay home from school until most of his bruising healed. For that Ryoma was grateful; he really wasn't in the mood to deal with people at the moment.

When he spotted the house, Ryoma let out a sigh of relief and climbed the steps in front of the house. He rapped his knuckles across the wooden door before taking a step back.

_'It's not to late to turn back.'_

A quiet voice in his head whispered, but Ryoma dismissed the thought. He was determined to do this. Even if it meant asking for a bit of help.

The door opened and the owner of the house took a step outside.

"Winst- Jesus Christ! What the hell happened to you?" Curly Shepard let out a long whistle of surprise.

Ryoma rolled his eyes. "It's nothing."

"Nothing? Doesn't loo-"Curly was cut off by Ryoma.

"Actually I'm here, because I need a favour," Ryoma explained.

For a second Curly looked deep in thought, or maybe Ryoma was just imagining things, before he leant back on the door. "Shoot."

* * *

Wind blew through the open window of his car, battering Steve's hair every which way. In the passenger seat, Soda sat rocking out to an Elvis Presley song on the radio. They were both currently on their lunch breaks.

They had both decided that instead of lounging around the DX, that it would be much more entertaining to take a cruise around town in Steve's car.

"I don't go looking for trouble, trouble finds me!" Soda sang along and Steve rolled his eyes at his friend's childish behaviour. He leant one arm on the open window sill and watched the passing stores as they flew down main street.

A flash of emerald caused Steve to freeze in his seat and hurriedly stick his head out the window. He glanced behind him, but the street was once again empty.

"What is it?" Soda, who had stopped singing along, turned to glance at his best friend.

Steve stuck his head back in the car. "I could have sworn I just saw Dal's cousin," Steve murmured.

Soda, who was having trouble hearing over the blasting music, raised an eyebrow. "You could have sworn you just saw what?" He asked.

"It's nothing," Steve told his friend. "I must have just been imagining things."

Soda shrugged and went back to listening to music. Steve shook his head.

_'I must have just been imagining things.'_

He repeated to himself.

* * *

Ryoma and Curly stopped in front of a dark looking store.

"This is the place," Curly stated and Ryoma looked towards the older male.

Curly, as if sensing Ryoma's apprehension, paused for a moment, before opening the door and motioning for Ryoma to enter.

"Come on, I'll introduce you to some friends of mine."

* * *

When school ended, Ponyboy, Two-Bit and Johnny made their way over to the Curtis's. They had been instructed not go anywhere alone if they could help it; especially Johnny. The Socs had already hurt him once and who said anything was stopping them from doing it again?

When they arrived at the Curtis house, Two-Bit threw open the door.

"Honey I'm home!" Two-Bit yelled.

No one answered.

Ponyboy looked around. The house was quiet. Maybe Ryoma was sleeping or something...

"Let's go see if Dal's cousin is in his room!" Two-Bit suggested and bolted upstairs, a mischievous smirk on his face. Ponyboy and Johnny sent each other a look of exasperation, before following.

Two-Bit knocked on Ryoma door. "Open the door and come out with your hands up!" He shouted and had to muffle his own laughter. This earned him more looks of exasperation from Ponyboy and Johnny.

When no one answered, Two-Bit threw open the door and barged into the empty room.

"Oh, guess he's not here," Two-Bit murmured, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. It was then that he spotted the white envelopes on the bed. Lunging forward, he grabbed one and let out a shout of triumph.

Taking out one of the opened letters, he unfolded it and his face blanched. "It looks like scribbles!" He shouted in disappointment. "Now how am I going to read them?"

"Maybe we should just go downstairs," Johnny suggested and Ponyboy nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, besides Ryoma already got mad the first time we tried to look at them," He added when the sound of a door opening and slamming downstairs caused them to jump.

"Hurry up and put it back!" Ponyboy whispered.

Two-Bit panicked and when he went to throw the letter back on the bed, he stepped on something.

A loud hiss sounded throughout the room.

* * *

Ryoma exited the store, Curly right behind him. He rubbed his shoulders; his back was absolutely killing him.

Curly watched the 12-year-old with a smirk on his face. "Told you it would hurt."

Ryoma rolled his eyes. "Shut up," He muttered and the paused for a moment before looking up at the older male. "Thanks."

"No problem." Curly shrugged. "Well I better get going, You know where to find me if you need anything. See you around."

Ryoma watched as Curly disappeared around the corner of the block, before making his way towards the Curtis's. He took out his cellphone.

_'One last thing to do,' _He thought to himself. He turned on his phone and went to his contacts. He had never expected he'd need to use this number. Then again, weirder things have happened.

He listened to the steady beeping as his call was connected. After about a minute a voice sounded on the other line.

**"Hello? Monkey King? Yeah, I need a favour."**

* * *

Dally entered the house with Soda and Steve following right behind him. He was just about to sit down when a loud screeching and pained shouts sounded from upstairs. Soda, Steve and him shared worried glanced before they bolted up the stairs.

Dally's eyes widened when he saw the screeching was coming from his cousins room. They rushed down the hall and theirs eyes widened at the sight that met them. A second later laughter filled the hall.

Two-Bit was running around the room, trying to shake off Karupin, who was dug her claws into his leg and refused to let go.

"Don't just stand there! Help get this thing off me!" Two-Bit shouted which only caused the laughter to grow in volume.

After a another couple of minutes, Two-Bit finally managed to shake the cat off and now lay panting on the couch downstairs. The gang was sending him amused glances which he pointedly ignored.

When the door opened, the gang turned to look at Ryoma who ignored them as he made his way upstairs. The sound of a door slamming shut sounded throughout the house and was quickly followed by the sound of running water.

Dally's eyes filled with worry. He stood up off the couch and made his way upstairs. The gangs eyes followed him as he left.

* * *

Ryoma shut the door to the bathroom and began to run himself a bath. He had just taken off his shirt when he examined his back in the bathroom mirror. It was still red and puffy from his earlier activities.

He was enamored in examining his back that he didn't hear the telltale signs of someone approaching. Nor did he hear as the bathroom door was opened.

"Is that a tattoo!?" Dallas yelled, eyes disbelieving, mouth gaping open like a fish out of water.

Ryoma spun around, eyes wide.

_Sh**._

* * *

**A/N**

**How did you like it? Did it lighten up the mood?**

**I'd like to thank Tiger723 for her help with this chapter!**

**Please review!**

**The next chapter is where it gets interesting.**


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